Pokemon ARC-V: Bonds of Unity
by FanficCrossoverMaster15
Summary: Thrusted into a new world that is not their own, Ash Ketchum and his Kalos pokemon pals must fight the dark forces that threatens the dimensions. Along with his new dueling partners and friends, Ash will help Yuya Sakaki bring smiles to everyone. (Like I said not good with summaries). Disclaimer: I don't own anything.
1. Chapter 1

**Pokemon ARC-V: Bonds of Unity**

 **AN: Hello everyone! FFCM15 here and ready to write! I apologize for the lack of updates, it wasn't because of cold feet or anything, it was just because my charger broke so I could not work on my laptop. Anyways to those of you who faved followed and reviewed my first story I just want to thank you all so much for doing so. But now I'm making a brand new story, this is my first Crossover story: Pokemon ARC V: Bonds of Unity! This is a Pokemon and YGO ARC-V crossover, but quite different from others that you all have read. So, without further adieu I give you Pokemon ARC-V: Bonds of Unity!**

 **Disclaimer- I do not own Pokemon or Yu Gi Oh ARC-V!**

Human speech- "Hey"

Human thought- ' _Hey'_

Spirit speech- " **Hey"**

Spirit thought- ' _ **Hey'**_

" _Telepathy"_

Chapter 1

In an endless, vast, white space, we see a young boy of 15 years of age, lying on his back, unconscious. His face was befitting for a boy his age, he also had little zigzag marks on both his cheeks. His spiky raven black hair was covered by a red cap, with a semi circle and tip of it being white. The rest of his attire consists of a black undershirt with a blue collared shirt with white lines worn over it. On his hands, he wears black fingerless gloves with a collar. He wears simple dark blue pants with a clip attached to his belt. This clip holds six miniature red, white and black balls, known as pokeballs. His feet attire consists of normal socks and shoes, with the shoes colors mainly red and black with a little white. This boy's name is Ash Ketchum and currently, he was not in his world.

Ash started to stir back into consciousness, opening bleary auburn eyes. He pushed himself up into a sitting position with one hand, while the other was rubbing the sleep out of his face. "What just happened?" Ash groaned out. He stands up slowly. "The last thing I remember was the real Zygarde blasting that fake stone one with a green beam, then there was a flash of green and then… nothing." He starts looking around once he got his bearings back. "Oh man, did we lose? Did Lysandre manage to destroy everything!?" Ash says, fearing the worst. "Bonnie, Clemont, Serena, Greninja, Pikachu!? Are you here!? Can you hear me!?" Ash yells out, hoping to get an answer. He got one, just one that he wasn't expecting.

" _It has been awhile, young Ash."_ He heard a mature male voice in his head before he was blinded by a flash of light. Once it dimmed, Ash saw a Pokemon he hasn't seen for awhile. It is a white equine resembling a qilin or centaur with a gray, vertically-striated underside. The striated pattern has similar recurrences on the underside of its mane, tail, and face. Its four pointed feet are tipped with gold hooves. Its long mane juts away from its head, and its face is gray, with green eyes and red pupils, and a green circular pattern below its eyes. It also has a streak of gold coloration on its head, and ears that point upward. Its neck is fairly long, with two pairs of extrusions to the sides, and a flap-like feature on the neck's underside that is colored white like much of the body. It also has a golden cross-like wheel attached to its body by its round abdomen. The wheel also has four jewels attached to it. The pattern of striated gray of it's underbelly resumes past it's waist. Its limbs have gray undersides and extrusions at the tops of the legs. it's tail is fairly like its mane in shape and coloration. This was Arceus, the Alpha Pokemon.

Ash gaped like a fish for a few seconds before he smiled. "Arceus, it's great to see you again." He says, happy he was with someone he considered a good ally.

" _And I you, my young friend."_ If Arceus could, he would've smiled back at the teen.

"So where are we anyway? And is everyone ok?" Ash eventually asked, worried more about his friends then himself.

" _Your friends are just fine Ash, they are simply back in Luminose city, regaining their strength after the battle you had fought against that madman and the Megalith Zygarde."_ Arceus assured the worried Pokemon trainer.

This caused Ash to sigh in relief. "Oh thank goodness, I was starting to get worried. So can I go back now, I need to show them I'm ok." Ash says, wanting to get back to his friends.

" _That… is not possible at the moment, I'm afraid."_ Arceus hesitantly admits.

"What do you mean?" Ash asks, fear, confusion and worry laced his voice.

" _What I mean: is that the destruction of the Megalith caused the negative energy stored inside it to rip a hole in the space time continuum, you and your Pokemon were in the area where it happened."_ Arceus explains, with a sad look in his eyes.

"What does that mean?" Ash asked, fearing the answer.

" _It means… that you and the Pokemon you have with you are now in another world."_ Arceus told him.

This caused Ash to start panicking, he was in another world where he can't contact his friends or family, what was he going to do? Were the current thoughts circling in his head. That soon came to an abrupt stop by a warm feeling covering his entire body, relaxing him greatly.

" _Do not fret young one, as we speak Palkia and Dialga are working on a way to bring you home."_ Arceus, who was providing the comforting feeling to Ash, assured the young trainer. When it felt like he has calmed down enough, Arceus started explaining the new world. " _The world you are now in does not know or heard of Pokemon; Pokemon don't even exist in this world. Instead it is run by a popular card game known as Duel Monsters. The game will be explained later. It is split into four different dimensions, the one you're in is known as Standard. What many does not know is that dark forces are lurking about."_ Arceus began explaining.

"What kind of dark forces?" Ash asked.

" _These three shall explain."_ Arceus states, just as a light shone behind Ash. This caused him to turn around and cover his eyes. When it died down, Ash saw three transparent figures in front of him. One of them looked to be a year or two older than him, his attire consisted of a black undershirt with a red jacket with a white collar and simple black jeans. His eyes and hair were both brown but his hair was a much more lighter shade of brown, it's styled looking rather flat with a few spikes jutting out. He also had an average lean looking physique and peach skin. The next figure was also older than Ash but this one maybe by three or four years. This one had tan skin, an average looking physique, black hair with gold highlights, and royal blue eyes. The upper layer of his hair juts upward while the lower layer arches down. He wears a long-sleeved blue jacket with a high collar and amber gems, over a sleeveless black shirt with a red symbol, and wears gloves below his elbows with an amber gem on them. His lower body consists of black jeans with amber knee pads, and calf high motorcycle boots. He also has a jagged mark under his left eye. The final figure looked younger than Ash. He has tan skin, red eyes, and black and red spiked hair that points out and upward. He wears a red vest with a white hood and a purple sleeveless shirt with a green "D" symbol. He also wears white pants with designs of three orange moon crescents attached to one another with yellow outlines at the bottom, a white brown-stripe belt, and black with blue streaks shoes with white straps. Other accessories includes a brown fingerless glove on his left hand, a black protective pad on his right elbow and a thick, dark blue bracelet with light blue gems and red outlines on his right wrist. What caught Ash's attention the most of this figure was the pendant around his neck.

" **Hey there kid, my name's Jaden Yuki."** The first guy introduced himself with a carefree smile.

" **My name is Yusei Fudo."** The second guy followed the first's lead, but did so with a small smile.

" **And I'm Yuma, Yuma Tsukumo!"** The youngest of the three followed suit, more cheerfully than the other two and with a wide grin.

"It's nice to meet you guys, my name's Ash." Ash says with a smile, always willing to make possible new friends.

" **We know who you are, Arceus told us all about you and your world."** Yusei says, adding the last part when he saw Ash's confused expression.

"Oh, ok. So why are you guys here?" Ash asked, growing more confused when the trio's faces became deadly serious, Ash even swore he saw Jaden's eyes become red and green for a brief second.

" **The Duel Monsters world is under threat, by a place known as… Duel Acadamy, in the Fusion dimension."** Jaden starts off, looking a little pained to say that.

" **Their goal is to unite the dimensions and rule them with an iron fist, destroying everyone and everything that doesn't join them."** Yusei follows up, fists clenched.

" **Just like they did with the Xyz dimension."** Yuma says with a sad look on his face. The entire area around changes to a ruined city. The three duelists and Arceus looked sad while Ash is shocked.

"Is this…?" Ash asks trailing off, but Yuma nods.

" **This is Heartland, of the Xyz dimension, or at least, what's left of it."** He says. Ash notices some people dressed in the same uniform surrounding men, women and children of various ages. The next thing Ash knew, a bright purple light surrounded the people and when it died down, there were only cards remaining, showing the horrified and scared looks of the people. Ash looked at the scene with a horrified expression, Yuma and Jaden looked away, Yusei had a sad look on his face, and Arceus just looked in silence.

"How… How could they do that… to those innocent people?" Ash asks shakily, his fists clenched and trembling. He then looked at the duelists and Arceus, his eyes lit up with the fire of determination and will to help others. "What do you need me to do?" He asks, even his tone was laced with resolution.

" **You are willing to help people that are not even from your world."** Yusei states. " **Why?"** He asked.

"It doesn't matter if I'm from a different world or not. What matters is that innocent people are getting hurt, and only a few can fight them. If this keeps up then the future for all of the dimensions will be doomed. And I can't stand by watching it happened when I know there's a way for me to help those in need." Ash speaks, his voice not faltering for a second.

The 3 duelists and Arceus are silent for a few moments. Then, Jaden smiled and looked to Arceus. " **You were right, he is the most selfless person there is."** He then turned towards Ash, with a grin. " **I can tell that you meant every word that you said, because they can only be heard when you truly want to protect or help someone with all you got in your heart, and that is how a true duelist fights. You got my help, I just hope your ready to get your game on."** Jaden declares, pumping his fist up, getting Ash to grin.

Next, Yusei follows up, saying, " **You are willing to put other people's safety before your own, and you're willing to make sure that they get a bright future, no matter the cost. That is a future I would like to see. I'll help too, so together, let's rev it up."** Ash gives a smile to Yusei, grateful for the encouraging words.

Finally, Yuma. " **You are someone who believes that hope will always get you through dark times, it is this hope that gives you the strength and willpower to keep moving forward and keep fighting on. I'm more than happy to help you, and together as long as we keep feeling the flow, nothing will stop us from high fiving the sky."** With their allegiances made, backed by their ironclad determination, the duelists and trainer turned to look at Arceus.

" _I must ask if you are all entirely sure? Because if you are, then there's no turning back."_ Without any hesitation, all four of them nodded. There was silence. Then Arceus nodded. " _Very well, step forward."_ They complied, stepping closer. When they got closer, two gold orbs appeared, which floated down to Ash. They then went to his belt, changing shape. The glows dispersed, revealing to items. One of the items looked like a red, blue, black and white rectangular box that looks like it can hold a deck of cards. The other looked some sort of blue tablet like device. " _These are your deck box and duel disk, these will allow you to duel in this world, and in your deck box, I made a personal deck that would suit your style. And now, for my final gift, I shall merge Jaden's, Yusei's and Yuma's spirits to your's, Ash. Are you ready?"_ All 4 of them nodded. Arceus nodded back and closed his eyes, concentrating. Then Jaden, Yusei and Yuma glowed red, white and black respectively. The glow blinded Ash, and when it died down Ash looked and saw three floating spheres of the same colors as the flashes. The spheres then shot into his body, surprising him. Then he saw an aura of the three colors surround the outline of his body before it died down. " _It is done."_ Ash turned to Arceus at the sound of his voice, but was surprised seeing the Alpha Pokemon disappearing. " _Our time is up, be careful my young friend, for there is enemies and friends everywhere in this world, and you must figure out who is which."_ Arceus said his final words to Ash, disappearing completely, followed by a blight light clouding Ash's vision, then darkness.

 _Welcome to Standard, Ash Ketchum_

To be continued…

 **AN: And here it is ladies and gentleman! The first chapter of Pokemon ARC-V: Bonds of Unity! To be honest I'm not really sure if I did a good job with the speeches, with it being my first time and all, and I'm pretty sure I made them cliche central. Anyways, I've also decided to do something completely different then what other Pokemon/YGO ARC-V writers in the past, so I hope it does well. Like last time, I would like it if the only criticism I get is constructive. Please show your support by Favoriting, Following, Reviewing or all 3. That's pretty much it, so I'll see you all next time, so until then, this is FFCM15, signing out!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Pokemon ARC-V: Bonds of Unity**

 **AN: Hello everyone, and welcome to the 2nd chapter Pokemon ARC-V: Bonds of Unity! This chapter is going to introduce Ash to the You Show Gang, along with his very first duel! It took some debating with what deck I wanted to have Ash face, but I finally decided on one, and you're gonna see right now! So without further adieu, I give you chapter 2 of Pokemon ARC-V: Bonds of Unity!**

 **Disclaimer- I don't own Pokemon or Yu Gi Oh ARC-V**

Human speech- "Hey"

Human thought- ' _Hey'_

Spirit Speech- " **Hey"**

Spirit thought- ' _ **Hey'**_

" _Telepathy"_

 _Flashback_

 **Monster/Player status**

Chapter 2

Ash groaned, feeling the warm rays of sunlight hit his face, forcing him out of his slumber. He opened his eyes and was greeted by a clear sky, with a few little clouds here and there, and a few branches just on the edge of his vision. He then felt shifting to both sides of him. He looked to his left and saw his very first pokemon partner, Pikachu, a short rodent pokemon which is covered in yellow fur with two horizontal brown stripes on its back. It has a small mouth, long, pointed ears with black tips, black eyes, and two red circles on its cheeks. There are pouches inside its cheeks where it stores electricity. It has short forearms with five fingers on each paw, and its feet each have three toes. At the base of its lightning bolt-shaped tail is patch of brown fur at the base. To his right, he saw his first pokemon from the Kalos region, Greninja, a large, bipedal, frog-like Pokémon. Its body and legs are dark blue, with single large white bubbles on its legs and arms and white spots over its eyes. On the sides of each of its upper thighs is a light blue, four-pointed star, which resembles a shuriken. Its back feet have two toes, while its front feet have three toes. Its feet are webbed, and it has a yellow chest and a yellow-and-blue face. It has eyes with white sclera, red irises, and white pupils. A large, projecting dark blue stripe runs down the middle of its head, with projecting light blue stripes in between its large, yellow ears. Its mouth is hidden behind a large, pink tongue that wraps around Greninja's neck and extends outward behind its head. Ash pushed himself up into a sitting position, rubbing his head. "Man that was some dream, almost felt like it was-" He started but cut himself off when he felt his belt and saw the very same objects he was given by Arceus, his deck box and duel disk, noting the latter item's body also had the same coloration as his deck box, red, blue, white and black. "So it wasn't a dream, we really are in a different world." Ash says, sadly, knowing it would be a long while before he can see his friends and family.

" **Sadly, you're right."** Surprised by the new voice, Ash whipped his head around and saw the transparent forms of Jaden, Yusei and Yuma, with the one who spoke being Yusei. " **But it's not all bad."** He adds.

" **Yeah, look at the bright side, you still have some of your pokemon friends with you so you won't be alone."** Jaden says with a grin.

" **Not only that but you can make a ton of new friends while you're here!"** Yuma says with a bright smile. Their encouraging words seem to do the trick, as Ash gave them all a big smile.

"Yeah, you guys are right, I shouldn't be down in the dumps, I should try to look at the positive side of things." His words caused smiles to appear on his spirit partners faces. The 4 then heard groaning, they turned and saw it was Pikachu and Greninja sitting up, awake. "Hey, guys." They heard their trainer's voice call out to them. They turned in the direction from where it came from. They were surprised when they not only saw their trainer, but 3 people they didn't know standing behind him. Before Ash or the three spirits could blink, Pikachu and Greninja were between them, glaring at Jaden, Yusei and Yuma, attacks at the ready. The 4 males were surprised by this, Yusei, Yuma and Jaden more so. "Wait guys, they're not gonna hurt us." Ash says, calling off his pokemon. Reluctantly, Pikachu and Greninja dispersed their attacks. Ash sighs in relief, before walking to his pokemon, kneeling and putting one of his hands on Pikachu's head and the other on Greninja's shoulder. "But thanks for watching my back." He smiled.

"Pikapi Pikachu." Pikachu smiled and jumped on his friend's shoulder, rubbing his cheek with his own, getting a laugh from Ash.

"Gren ja." Greninja nodded, putting his webbed hand on Ash's shoulder, electing a smile from the boy. The trio then turned back to the transparent duelists, who floated over when the trio were interacting with each other.

" **Huh, that's surprising."** Yusei states, getting confused looks from Ash and the pokemon.

"What is?" Ash asked curiously, Pikachu's and and Greninja's facial expressions showing the same curiosity.

" **As far as we knew, you're the only one who's supposed to see us Ash, considering we're bonded to you."** Jaden states, surprising the trainer and pokemon, the pokemon more so.

" **Maybe because they're sort of like animals they can be able to see us."** Yuma theorizes.

"Pokemon do have a lot better senses than a human's, so maybe you're right." Ash agrees. Yusei and Jaden nodded in agreement. Pikachu and Greninja look at each other confused, then to Ash.

"Pika pikachu, pikapi?/Grenin ninja?" Both Pikachu and Greninja questioned their trainer. This reminds Ash that they don't know what's going on.

"Oh sorry guys, I forgot to explain what's going on." Ash says, sheepishly rubbing the back of his head. This causes the pokemon to sigh and the duelists to chuckle in amusement. Ash then went on to explain everything that happened in his meeting with Arceus. Pikachu and Greninja were shocked and saddened when they learned they were on another world and wouldn't be able to see their friends for awhile, though they were happy to hear they won against Lysandre and the Megalith Zygarde, and that their friends were safe. They were more shocked to learn that pokemon didn't exist in this world. When they heard that their trainer was gonna help the dimensions of this reality, they gave out their determined cries, signaling they will have their trainers back through this war. This caused Ash to hug the two pokemon in gratitude, and caused the three spirits to smile, seeing the bond that their host had with his pokemon. Once explanations were done, Ash returned Greninja to his pokeball and since Pikachu doesn't like being in the pokeball, Ash decided to put him in his backpack, which also teleported with him. At first Pikachu refused, but then Ash mentioned he had some ketchup packets in there. When he said that, the Mouse Pokemon practically lunged inside the pack, once inside Ash zipped it up. Yuma, Jaden and Yusei decided to remain in spirit form, to inform Ash how Duel Monsters work. Ash had soon discovered he was in a forrastated area of a big park. Once he exited, he was amazed when he saw the big city he landed in. Even Jaden, Yuma and Yusei were impressed by the looks of the city and how big it was.

While he was walking along a sidewalk, he came across a TV store, the TVs on display showing the news. From there, the 4 were able to find out the city's name, Paradise City. Along with that, they learned about a new form of dueling, Action Duels. From what they got from the TV, it seemed to involve solid holograms of monsters that help you move around in an Action Field, which looked like bigger, and more solid versions of field spells.

Eventually, Ash took a break from walking to sit on a bench. He pulled out his deck, looking through it. He was surprised when he saw a lot of the cards based off the pokemon he caught and still has, along with some spells and traps based off of pokemon abilities and moves. The three veteran duelists were also impressed by the cards and their effects. As Ash put away his deck, Jaden, Yuma and Yusei went back into his soul. Then, as he stood up, he was surprised when a hand landed on his shoulder.

"What are you doing here, young man?" A stern male voice said. Ash turned, and was met with a man who was wearing a sort of officer suit. "You must love being in trouble." The man said.

"What did I do wrong, mister?" Ash asked nervously, worried that he did something wrong unintentionally.

"You are sitting here, lolly gagging around, when you should be in school." The stern man said. This caused Ash to give a sigh of relief, grateful that he didn't do anything too bad. But then his brain finally caught up to what the man said. School.

"School!? But wait, I don't-" Ash was cut off as the man grabbed him and started dragging him in a certain direction.

 **(10 minutes later)**

The man dragged Ash to a school building. Ash was able to see a sign that said 'Paradise Prep School' so he assumed this was the name the school. The man dragged Ash into a classroom, pushing him in. Ash managed to catch his footing before he fell on the ground as the man closed the door behind him. Ash looked up, and was greeted by a male teacher's angered look, with crossed arms. "Well, what do you have to say for your tardiness young man?" The teacher asked.

Ash chuckled nervously while rubbing the back of his head. "Sorry, I didn't know the way to get here." Ash gave a, hopefully, believable excuse. Luckily, it worked, as the teacher sighed while a majority of the class snickered.

The teacher looked at him with a stern face. "I guess it's understandable, considering you look like a new student. But don't let this happen again." The teacher warns him, receiving a nod in response. "Now that you're here, why don't you introduce yourself." He suggested. Ash nodded again, before looking at the class.

"My name's Ash Ketchum, hope we can get along." Ash says, giving a cheerful smile and wave. He looked the class over but only two of them caught his interest. The first was a girl who has blue eyes and dark pink midback-length hair, which she wears tied up in pigtails, clipped down by blue, spherical hair clips. Her hair also features two lighter pink bangs that fall to the side of her face. The girl's outfit consists of a sleeveless light-blue and white shirt with a green musical note on the right collar, along with a red tie, which she wears with a dark red skirt and dark stockings, both of which were long enough to not show any skin. The second was a boy with crimson eyes, and dual-colored green and crimson hair of average length sticking out in downwards pointing spikes all around his head in a similar manner to Jaden, with the exception of one short upwards pointing spike of green hair. He wears his good-luck charm pendant on a simple string around his neck, and a buckled choker, and a pair of golden goggles with orange lenses on his forehead, with a blue star obscuring the right lens. He wears a simple orange t-shirt with a thick, silver-buckled brown belt over it, green pants with what appear to be "Deck pockets" on each leg, and magenta shoes, as well as crimson wristbands. He also wears his gold and red lined white school jacket over his shoulders like a cape. What no one noticed, when Ash looked at those two, his eyes changed color. One green and one red. When they did that, Ash saw that the boy was surrounded by an aura of darkness, while the girl was surrounded by one of light. Ash lightly gasped, which went unnoticed.

"It seems you know Mr. Yuya and Ms. Zuzu, why don't you take a seat near them?" The teacher's suggestion snapped Ash out of his trance, his eyes returning to normal after he blinked. The class kept staring at him, with the girl and boy, Zuzu and Yuya, looking at him with the most interest, having noticed he was staring at them. Ash nodded, walking quickly to the desk behind Yuya. As the class started, Zuzu and Yuya stared at Ash a little more before paying attention to the teacher.

 **(A few hours later)**

It was a long few hours for Ash, considering he hasn't been to a school in a good few years. Sure he visited schools and learning camps in his world, but those were all focusing on pokemon, not the stuff that this place taught. Overall, he had a good day, did lots of school work and played sports games, he even suspected that he got a fangirl club. What with the starry eyed females and jealous males.

He had all the same classes as Yuya and/or Zuzu, but he didn't talk to them. Thankfully, Pikachu didn't move around that much while in his backpack, to Ash, that must've meant he fell asleep. Ash was currently walking out of the school, heaving a sigh. ' _Man that took forever.'_ He thought.

" **Soooo… how was school?"** Yuma, coming out of his soul with Yusei and Jaden, asks in a teasing voice, with a matching grin. Ash gave him a glare that was filled with so much hate, you could drown in it.

"Don't even patronize me, I'm too tired to deal with it." Ash grumbles getting a snicker from Yuma and smile from Yusei. The only one who wasn't doing either was Jaden, something Ash took notice of. "Something wrong Jaden?" Ash questioned the former Slifer red, getting the other two duelists attention.

Jaden looked at them. " **Earlier, when you were looking at those two, Yuya and Zuzu, you used my power, you were able to look into their spirits."** What he said surprised the others. " **How did you do that?"** Jaden asked.

Ash shifted around nervously. "I don't know, I just looked at them for awhile and I just saw those lights surround them, it just happened." Ash answers honestly.

It was silent for a minute, then Yusei broked it. " **Maybe because of us being bonded, it's causing some of our abilities be transferred to Ash."** He theorized. It actually made a lot of sense now that they think about it.

" **So Ash, what are you gonna do about finding a place to live?"** Yuma asked.

"If it comes to it, I can just sleep in the park." Ash says, considering he does have his sleeping bag and can ask Talonflame to start a fire. Before any of them could say anything else, they heard something akin to a yelling match. The four looked at each other, before Jaden, Yuma and Yusei disappeared back to Ash's soul, then Ash ran to where the yelling is happening. When he got there, he saw Yuya and Zuzu with three younger kids, a red headed girl, a blue haired boy and a chubby green haired boy. They were arguing against a boy about a the same age as Zuzu and Yuya, he had black hair and a underbite, revealing his under fang. His clothes consisted of a long sleeve shirt that is blue and red, grey trousers and black and white sneakers. Curious, he got closer to listen to what's going on.

"I refuse to believe that the son of a coward like you could beat the Sledgehammer, or make a brand new summoning method!" The fang boy exclaimed.

"My dad is not a coward, and I beat that jerk of a champion fair and square, along with making that method!" Yuya argued back.

"That match was broadcasted on TV, everyone saw that Yuya was able to beat the champion and do a new summoning method." Zuzu backed Yuya up

"That's right!" The three kids exclaimed, with the red headed girl ran up to the guy and kicked his knee. "Don't pick on Yuya!" she exclaimed.

"Ow!" The boy yelped, then he growled. "Why you!" He reeled his arm back, forming a fist.

"ALLY!" The other 4 yelled in worried. Ash decided to act at that moment, and dashed forward.

As Ally saw the fist coming at her, she closed her eyes and crossed her arms to protect herself, waiting for the blow. It never came. Hesitantly, she cracks opens an eye and looks up, what she saw caused her eyes to shoot open. Standing there, holding the boy's fist with a gloved hand, was Ash, though she didn't know who he was. Ash glared at the shocked boy, still holding his fist. "Leave. Her. Alone." Ash says slowly and dangerously, leaning closer with each word. He then shoved the boy away, moving to stand directly in front of Ally. Everyone else was shocked at his appearance, Zuzu and Yuya being the most shocked.

The boy's shock, quickly turn to anger. "Who the heck do you think you are?" He growled out.

Ash didn't flinch, heck he didn't seem fazed whatsoever from the growl. "My name's Ash Ketchum, and you got a lot of nerve to think it's ok to strike a little girl and get away with it." Ash said in a cold tone that caused the boy to flinch.

Meanwhile, with Yuya, Zuzu, and the two younger boys, they retrieved Ally and moved her a fair distance away from the two teen boys facing each other. "Who is that?" The two boys, Tate and Fredrick asked in amazement that a total stranger protected one of their friends. Ally was looking at Ash with adoration.

"That's Ash, he just started attending our school today." Yuya says, a little respect in his voice, considering Ash did save his one of his younger friends from getting injured. Zuzu didn't say anything, she just stared at Ash with an unreadable expression on her face.

Back to the arguing boys, the boy growled. "That little nuisance deserved it after what she did!"

"You deserved it after she heard you insult her friend." Ash cooly states.

"What, for stating the truth, that the son of a coward couldn't beat the Sledgehammer or make a new summoning method?" The boy said with a smirk. Ash took a sideways glance at Yuya, seeing the depressed look on his face caused Ash's blood to boil. "I bet I could beat him without trying." That gloat caused Ash to had enough.

"Ok that's it, let's see if you can back those words up, duel me and we'll see if you're as good as you say." Ash declares. What he said shocked everyone. But the boy's face changed to a smirk.

"Alright fine, I'll humor you with a duel, matter of fact, how's about we go to their crummy duel school and have an Action Duel." The kid rudely suggested, gesturing to the ones behind Ash, who bristled at the jab at their school.

Ash hesitated, he was honestly nervous about dueling for the first time, especially in an Action Duel. But this kid needed to be taught a lesson about bullying, and Ash was gonna be the one to deliver. Ash nodded. "Alright, we'll go, and if I win, you apologize to them for all the things you said." He states his conditions.

"And if I win, I get your friend's Pendulum cards and you admit that Suoh is the best duelist there is while bowing down." The boy, Suoh, smirked.

Ash nodded reluctantly. He was a little confused when Suoh said Pendulum cards, but he didn't have time to dwell on it. With that everyone started working to the duel school. Suoh was walking a bit behind the group while Ash was walking with the group. Ash then started feeling guilty about making that bet without consulting with the group first. "Hey." He says to get their attention, which was on him in a second. "Sorry about making this bet without talking to you guys first." Ash apologized.

He felt a hand on his shoulder, causing him to look to see it was Yuya, who had a smile on his face. "Hey, it's ok, I'm actually glad you stepped in and protected Ally, if it wasn't for you, she'd be seriously hurt. To be honest, I would've done the same just now." He says, sounding sheepishly at the end.

Zuzu rolled her eyes. "Not surprising, considering the way you act." She states, getting an annoyed glare from Yuya, snickers from the kids and a smile from Ash. She then turned to Ash with a smile. "How about we introduce ourselves? My name's Zuzu Boyle, you already met Yuya Sakaki, the boy with blue hair is Tate, the chubby green haired boy is Fredrick, and the girl you saved is Ally. The 'crummy' duel school, that jerk was talking about is called the You Show Duel School, a school that teaches duelists to be Dueltainers, duelists who entertains the crowd with their dueling." Zuzu introduces everyone and explains to Ash.

Ash nodded. "My name's Ash Ketchum, nice to meet you. And what did he mean by new summoning method?" He asked, remembering what was said before he entered the argument.

The three kids then got super excited after he asked. "Yuya was able to make a new summoning that is absolutely wonderbar." Fredrick says with a sweedish(?) accent.

"It's so pretty." Ally compliments.

"It's called Pendulum summoning, with it Yuya can summon monsters between a certain amount of levels at the same time." Tate explains. This piques Ash's interest, as he looks at Yuya, who nodded.

"That's right, but you can only do it when you have Pendulum cards in the Pendulum zone." He explains, while pulling out two cards, Stargazer and Timegazer Magician. Ash took note how there were two effects on the cards along with the border at the bottom being green like a spell card. He also saw the blue and red gems with the numbers below them. "When in the Pendulum zone, they're treated as spell cards. You can also only summon monsters with levels between the numbers on the Pendulum scale." Yuya finishes, putting the cards back. They were about to ask Ash questions about himself, but they already arrived at their destination,a sort of asymmetrical building that looks like a fun house. They all entered, taking the stairs to the second floor of the building, which consisted of a lounge area, a viewing area to the Action Duel arena, the arena itself and a control room for the Augmented Reality Combat, or ARC, system.

Ash and Suoh got into the arena, after Ash left his backpack, which still held Pikachu, against the wall in the viewing area, while Zuzu, the only one there who at least knew a little of how to work the ARC system, went into the control room. The kids and Yuya went to the viewing area. "Hey, what's going on here?" A young voice caught their attention. They turned and saw two individuals, one is a short, young boy, who was also the one that spoke, with light cyan hair, that is tied up and spiked out. He wears a blue jacket, with a yellow and orange trim over a black t-shirt. He also wears a pair of light gray cargo shorts over long white socks and brown shoes. He also had a lollipop in his mouth.

The other was a huge framed teenager, easily equivalent in height to some adults. While he has a fairly round face, he is stockily built and rather muscular. He has black hair styled into a large pompadour, restrained by a red band, and his nose is somewhat redder than the rest of his face. There is a constant blush on his cheeks. He appears to wear a Paradise Prep School jacket, albeit looks more like a vest, over a buttoned white coat that has golden trim, as well as white pants. He also wears a white sash crossed over his back, tied at the left shoulder. These two were Sora Perse and Gong Strong respectively. "Sora, Gong, hey!" Yuya greeted them with a smile.

"Hey, so what's going on here?" Gong asks.

"This mean kid, Suoh, came up to us and started insulting Yuya for no reason." Tate started.

"Then, Ally kicked him in the knee and he was gonna punch her." Fredrick continues, causing Gong and Sora to look at said girl in surprise.

"But then Ash came up and protected me." Ally states happily. Gong and Sora then looked at Yuya, both confused as to who that was, along with Suoh.

"Ash is the one with the cap on his head in the arena, Suoh is the other dude in the arena. After Ash saved Ally, they got into an argument which led to a duel, if Ash wins, Suoh apologizes. But if Suoh wins, Ash admits he's better and he gets my Pendulum cards." Yuya explains the rest. The 2 looked surprised.

"He gets your cards?" Sora asked alarmed. Yuya nodded. Gong and Sora then walked up to the observation window.

"Well, Gong hopes that Ash can win this." Gong states. The others nodded.

Now that Ash was in the arena, he was honestly started to get nervous, considering this is his first duel and already he has a lot on the line. He started sweating, when he felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned and saw Yusei, Yuma and Jaden behind him. " **Don't worry Ash, we're right here with you."** Yusei reassures.

Jaden nods. " **Yeah, as long as you believe in yourself and your deck, then you can beat this punk."** He says pumping his fist up.

" **That's right, so don't let this guy get to you, because he has no idea who he's dealing with."** Yuma says with a grin.

Ash looks at his spirit partners, before smiling a lot more calmly. "Thanks guys, I needed that, I won't let you guys down." Ash whispers. The 3 smiled, before going back into his body.

"If you're done talking to yourself, can we get this one sided beatdown on the road?" Suoh arrogantly asks with a smirk. Ash looks at him with a serious face.

"We'll see who beats who when we're done." Ash states seriously.

"Ok, if you boys are done trash talking, I'm gonna activate the Action Field, Dragon's Den." Zuzu says, activating the ARC system. The arena changed to that of a cave that was filled to the brim with gold, chests, weapons and other knick knacks. Everyone's faces expressed shock when Suoh laughed evilly.

"Wow, I gotta thank you, because you just ensured my victory, considering this is one of the fields that I know everything about." Suoh grinned, maniacally.

Everyone's eyes widened at this info. "Uh oh, if that's true then Ash is in some serious trouble!" Yuya exclaims.

Ash's face turned to one of seriousness. "Just because you know everything about this field, doesn't mean you're gonna automatically win, and I'm gonna prove it." He says, as both put their duel disks on, the blades, deck section and extra deck section popping out. While Suoh's looked like a standard orange bent blade, Ash's looked like a semi circle colored red, blue, white and black.

"This battle of epic proportions is about to explode." Gong states.

"The fate of my Pendulum summoning will be decided in the outcome of this duel." Yuya says.

"Let's see if you can defeat my ultra powerful deck." Suoh smirked.

"It's gonna take a lot more than power in order to win this duel." Ash states.

"Now that the stage is set, it's time for an Action…" Zuzu starts.

"DUEL!" Ash and Suoh shouted together.

 **Ash LP: 4000 Hand x5**

 **Suoh LP: 4000 Hand x5**

Unbeknownst to everyone in the observation room, Pikachu unzipped Ash's backpack and popped his head out to see the duel.

"Number one gets to go first." Suoh smirks. "For now, I'll summon the Maiden with Eyes of Blue in attack mode." He declares, slapping the card on his blade. In a flash of light, a young, white haired, blue eyed girl wearing tribal clothes appeared on the field **(0/0 lvl: 1)**. "That's all for now." **(Suoh Hand x4)**

The observers frowned. "Why would he summon monster with 0 ATK points in attack mode?" Yuya voiced everyone's thoughts.

" **It looks like another rule in this reality, is that you can't draw on your first turn."** Yusei observes as he comes back out of Ash's soul, along with the other 2.

" **Not only that, he uses a Blue Eyes deck, very powerful."** Jaden states.

" **Be careful Ash."** Yuma warns.

Ash glances at them. "Don't worry, I will." He whispers. They return to his soul as he puts his index and middle finger on his deck, looking at his opponent. "It's my move then, I draw!" Ash declares, drawing his card. He looks at it and the rest of his hand. 1 monster, 2 traps and 3 spells. He takes one of his spells and inserts it in his spell and trap zone. "To start, I'm gonna use the spell card Pokeball." Ash starts. The card appears on the field, showing said ball with a black background. The card then changes into a bigger version of said ball. "This card, once per turn, allows me to summon a Pokemon monster from my hand or deck, so long as it's level is 1 through 3." He declares as a card popped out from his deck and he grabbed it. "I'm summoning the level 3, Gible, the Land Shark Dragon Pokemon, in attack mode." He slaps the card on his blade. The ball bursted open, creating a bright light. When it died down, it revealed it to be a small, bipedal dragon-like Pokémon that is primarily blue. It has a big mouth filled with sharp teeth, no neck, and arms that start at the outer edges of its jaws. A red underbelly stretches from its abdomen to the bottom of its jaw. It has two horns that resemble jet or plane engines, each with a light blue stripe in the middle. It has a single light blue stripe wrapping around its back. On top of its head is a dorsal fin. **(1300/800 lvl: 3)**

Everyone looked on in confusion. "Pokemon monster?" Sora asks, the others shrugging.

"Must be a new archetype deck from where he's from." Yuya suggests.

"Next, I'm summoning Donphan, the Wrecking Rolling Pokemon, in attack mode as well." Ash says. The ground bursted open, creating a dust cloud. When it cleared, there was a gray, elephant-like creature with a thick, black band of hide running down the length of its back and extending to the tip of its long trunk, a pair of white tusks extending from the corners of it's mouth, thin, elongated ears held out almost perpendicular to its body, and it has four short legs are each encircled with a broken, black band and have three toes. **(1600/2000 lvl: 4)** "Now I'm gonna have Gible attack your Maiden. Dragon Pulse!" Ash declared. The small dragon fired the purple and lavender beam.

"I don't think so, I activate her special ability!" Suoh grins smugly. "When she's attacked, I can switch her to defense mode and negate the attack." The beam dispersed and the Maiden had a blue glow surround her, indicating she's in defense mode. "And this is my favorite part of her effect, she allows me to summon a Blue Eyes White Dragon from my hand, deck or graveyard." In a flash of light, a white scaled and blue eyed dragon appear. **(3000/2500 lvl: 8)** Ash also took note how one of his cards from his hand disappeared, giving him an idea of where the dragon came from. **(Suoh hand x3)**

Ash gritted his teeth. "I have two monsters too if you forgot. Donphan, your turn. Rollout!" The elephant like pokemon curled up and started spinning at the maiden.

Suoh then ran at a treasure chest and kicked it open, a card popping out, which he grabbed and played. "I play the Action Spell: Avoid, negating your attack." The maiden disappeared from Donphan's path and reappeared in the same spot.

Ash frowned and looked at his hand, before picking two cards and putting them facedown. "I place two cards facedown and end my turn." The cards appear before disappearing. **(Ash hand x2)**

"Aw man, that jerk countered Ash's moves perfectly." Yuya says.

"Hopefully, he has a plan to make it out of this turn unscathed." Gong states.

"My turn, I draw!" Suoh drew, and then smirked. "I'm activating the spell card One for One, this card allows me to send one card from my hand to the graveyard in order summon a level one monster from my hand or deck. I summon my Master with Eyes of Blue from my hand." A man in tribal clothing appeared next to his maiden. **(300/1200 lvl: 1)** But then a card popped from his deck and he drew it. "Thanks to my White Stone of Legend that I discarded, I'm able to add one Blue Eyes White Dragon. Now, I'm activating Trade-In. By discarding my recently added Blue Eyes, I'm allowed to draw two cards." He says while drawing. He smirked. "Now I play Monster Reborn, so I can bring back my Blue Eyes I discarded." The dragon appeared next to the first one. "Now my Maiden will give my first Blue Eyes White Dragon a tune up." Everyone's eyes widened at what he said, as the Maiden turned into a green ring, and the first Blue Eyes became 8 shining stars, then a beam of light shot through.

"No way!" The kids exclaimed in disbelief.

"Suoh can Synchro Summon!?" Yuya voiced out.

" **Careful Ash."** Yusei, who came out, warns. Ash nods.

"I Synchro summon, Azure-Eyes Silver Dragon!" A dragon that lives up to it's namesake appeared and roared, causing a shockwave. **(2500/3000 lvl: 9)**

"So this is… Synchro summoning." Ash says, his voice having slight awe.

Suoh smirked. "But why should I stop at one Synchro monster? When I can summon another." What he said, shocked everyone again, as his Master with Eyes of Blue became a similar green ring as the maiden and the second dragon became a similar shining stars like the first dragon. A beam shot through it again. "I Synchro summon, another Azure Eyes Silver Dragon." A second silver dragon appeared.

"He has two of them!?" Gong asked in shocked. The others were also in a state of shock.

"Now before I use them, I'm gonna activate Mystical Space Typhoon, this allows me to destroy one of your facedowns. How about the one on the right?" Suoh rhetorically asks. A wind vortex shot from the card and hit Ash's right facedown. It flipped up, showing a trap card that shows an energy beam that looked like an attack heading toward a Gible but then curves and heads towards a purple and lavender blob monster (Muk) this was the trap Me First. "Now I'm gonna have my first Azure Eyes attack your pathetic excuse of a dragon." Azure Eyes reared it's head back and fired a blue beam of light.

"I activate my trap card, Protect, so long as I have a Pokemon monster out on the field, this negates your attack." Ash declared, flipping his facedown. It showed Donphan surrounded by a green shield. Said shield appeared in front of Gible and stopped the attack. After it was done, the card flipped back facedown, confusing everyone. "After it's use, it can flip itself face down." Ash explained, shocking the observers.

"A card that can flip itself face down!?" The kids exclaimed.

"That's pretty handy." Sora remarks.

"That's a good defense, but…" Yuya trails off.

"I have two remember?" Suoh smirked. The second one reared it's head back. Ash found a treasure chest and kicked it open, a card popping out and he grabbed it and slotted it in.

"I activate the Action Spell: Miracle, preventing my monster's destruction and halving the damage." The blast hit Gible but wasn't destroyed. Ash covered himself as winds blew in his face. **(Ash LP: 4000-600=3400)**

"I end my turn." Suoh bit out. **(Suoh hand x0)**

"My turn! I draw!" Ash drew his card and looks at it and plays it. "I'm activating the spell, Pot of Greed, allowing me to draw 2 more cards." He drew again and looks at them, a monster and another spell. He put the monster in his hand before playing the spell he drew. "Now I'm activating the spell Graceful Charity, allowing me to draw 3 cards so long as I discard 2." He drew once more and looks at the cards, 1 monster and 2 traps, he discarded one of the traps along with one of the two spells in his hand. "I'm activating Pokeball again, allowing me to summon a monster from my hand or deck, so long as it's level is 1 through 3." A card popped from his deck and he grabbed it. "I summon the level 3 Totodile, The Big Jaws Pokemon." Ash declares as the ball opened again. When it died down, it revealed a bipedal, blue crocodile with red spines on its back and tail. The spine on its back is larger with additional ridges. It's head is large, with ridges above its eyes. Much of the head's size is composed of it's snout and strong jaws. There are two visible teeth on the tip of its upper jaw, and two rows of three teeth on each side of its lower jaw. On its chest is a yellow, somewhat V-shaped pattern that extends to its arms with a line bisecting the pattern. Totodile has five sharp claws and three toes. Its eyes are red and surrounded by a dark blue or black pattern. **(1100/800 lvl: 3)** It started doing a little dance, much to Suoh's annoyance, the other teens amusement and the little kids adoration.

"It's so cute and funny." Ally says.

"Now I'm activating the spell card, Helping Hand." Ash says. The card appears, showing brown fox like creature (Eevee) having a paw on a Donphan's side. "This card allows one Pokemon monster to gain ATK points equal to the combined total of other Pokemon monsters out on the field. Donphan is gonna get a power boost from Gible and Totodile." Totodile and Gible were both surrounded by a blue and purple auras. The auras then went to Donphan, who gave out a cry of power.

"Gible has 1300 points and Totodile has 1100. Add that to Donphan's 1600 and you got…" Tate started doing the math.

"4000 ATK points." Sora states, licking a lollipop.

 **(1600+1300+1100=4000)** Suoh stepped back in shock. "That's enough to take out my Blue Eyes." He remarks.

"That's right, go Donphan! Take it out with Rollout!" Ash declares. Donphan curls up and starts rolling towards Blue Eyes. Donphan rammed into the dragon's gut, making it got pushed back by the shockwave **(Suoh LP: 4000-1000=3000)** Suoh looked up, and was shocked to see Ash gone. "I'm not done yet, I'm activating the Action Spell: Second Attack. This card allows Donphan to attack again." Suoh looked above him and saw Ash on a pile of gold, his monsters beside him. Donphan then did another Rollout which took out one of Suoh's Azure Eyes. **(Suoh LP: 3000-1500=1500)** Suoh was blown off his feet by the shockwave. "I set one card face down and end my turn, and Donphan's ATK points go back to normal." **(4000-2400=1600) (Ash's hand x3)** "This is what happens when you make fun of someone." Ash says, pointing at Suoh's downed form.

"Alright!" Everyone spectating, except Sora, exclaimed in delight.

"The Gong is mighty impressed with that combo that Ash was able to pull." Gong says, with a nod.

"Yeah, he managed to get the upper hand in no time at all." Yuya said.

"His Pokemon monsters are absolutely wonderbar." Fredrick says, doing a little jig.

"Also cute and funny." Ally giggles.

"He just needs to push a little more." Tate states.

Pikachu, who was watching from Ash's backpack, smiles. "Pikachu, Pikapi." He whispers.

"Don't count Suoh out yet, he can make a comeback at anytime." Sora warns.

Zuzu, who was still in the control room, watches silently. ' _Be careful Ash.'_ She thought.

Back on the field, Suoh slowly gets up. "How dare you…" He mutters. Ash raises an eyebrow. "How dare you make a fool out of me!" He screamed madly, turning around, showing his extremely angry face. "My move, I draw!" He drew and smirked. "I'm activating Azure Eyes special ability. I can now summon a normal monster from my graveyard. Welcome back Blue Eyes." A portal opened up, and out of it came the white dragon. Suoh then ran up and kicked a chest open, revealing an Action card, while Ash himself was trying to find one. "I'm activating the Action Spell: Extreme Sword, giving my White Eyes a 1000 ATK boost." Blue Eyes glowed and roared with power. **(3000+1000=4000)** "Now, Blue Eyes, attack his elephant out with White Lightning!" Suoh declare with an evil grin. Blue Eyes fired the white beam and destroyed Donphan and in the aftermath, knocked Ash down. **(Ash LP: 3400-2400=1000)** Ash looked up and saw he was just in front of the chest. "Now Azure Eyes, attack his little crocodile and end this duel!" Azure Eyes reared it's head back and shot it's blue beam. When it hit it's mark, a smoke cloud appeared.

"ASH!/PIKAPI!" Everyone, including Pikachu, yelled in worry and fear.

Suoh laughed like a madman. "This is what you get for picking a fight you know you can't win!" He declares smugly.

Suoh's smugness and everyone else's fear were then washed away when they heard a voice. "Phew! That was a close one!" The voice said, causing everyone to freeze. They looked up at the tallest pile of treasure and saw Ash at the top of it, along with his monsters.

"ASH!/PIKAPI!" Everyone, except Suoh, exclaimed in relief.

Suoh stared at him in disbelief. "How!? How did you survive that attack!?" He demanded.

"It's simple really." Ash says, recalling what happened.

 _Flashback_

 _Ash, recovering from his fall, opened the chest and grabbed the Action Spell that popped out, Big Escape. He played it, then he and his monsters jumped up to the top of the highest gold pile._

 _Flashback End_

The Big Escape card popped up. "Thanks to the Action Spell: Big Escape, I was able to end the battle before your attack hit." Ash states.

Suoh grits his teeth. "Why you… fine! I end my turn, but when your turn is over, that'll be my time to finish you off." He states. **(Suoh hand x1)**

Back with the others, everyone gave a sigh of relief. "Thank goodness." The kids say.

"The Gong admits, Ash really had Gong at the edge of his seat." Gong states.

"Yeah." Yuya nodded. Then he smiled. "He'd make an awesome dueltainer." He adds.

In the control room, Zuzu was in a similar state of relief. ' _Thank goodness, he was able to get himself another turn.'_ She thought.

In the viewing room, Sora remembers something. "Hey wait a minute." He says, getting the others attention. "Did you guys hear that voice when we called to Ash?" He asked. At Ash's backpack, Pikachu heard Sora's question and ducked down into the pack, paws on his mouth.

"What voice?" Tate asks, not having heard anything, along with Fredrick and Ally.

Yuya and Gong on the other hand did. "Hey yeah you're right, it actually sounded like it said 'pikapi'." Yuya says.

"But where did it come from?" Gong asks.

Sora noticed Ash's backpack shifting. This caused his eyes to narrow and goes towards it. Everyone noticed where he was going. "Woah Sora wait. That's Ash's backpack, you shouldn't go through other people's stuff." Yuya tried calling his smaller friend back but was ignored. Sora kneeled down and opened the pack. He was greeted with a little yellow head with long, black tipped ears and black eyes. The others came over and saw Pikachu. No one did anything for a few seconds. Ally was the first to react.

"So cute!" She squealed, running over and petting the mouse pokemon, which earned her a 'chaa' in response.

"What is it?" Fredrick asks.

"I don't know." Tate shrugged.

"It kind of looks like one of Ash's Pokemon monsters." Gong observes.

"Whatever it is, it's cute." Sora smiles and scratches Pikachu behind the ear, earning another 'chaa' in return.

Yuya then walked over and kneeled down. "Hey there little guy, is Ash your owner?" He asks. Pikachu was a little annoyed by that because implied that he was a pet, but knowing they couldn't understand him, he nodded to Yuya. Yuya then smiled. "Then how about you watch the rest of the duel with us?" He offers. Pikachu looked at the tomato head, before smiling and leaping onto his shoulder, surprising everyone, they were surprised more when Pikachu rubbed his cheek against Yuya's. Yuya laughs as it happens. "Ok, ok, calm down that tickles. Hahaha!" After that was done, everyone went over to the observation window.

Back on the field, Ash was thinking of his current predicament. ' _He has two strong monsters out on the field, so unless I can get a stronger monster out then I'm a goner, and Yuya loses his Pendulum cards. I… I'm just not strong enough.'_ He thought, closing his eyes in sadness. He then felt a hand on his shoulder, he turned and saw Yusei, along with Jaden and Yuma, floating behind him.

" **Don't give up hope yet Ash,"** Yusei says.

" **That's right remember to believe in yourself and your deck."** Jaden continues.

" **Not only that but also believe in your bonds with your friends."** Yuma adds his own two cents

"My friends?" Ash mumbles. He turns towards the window to see the people he met, along with 2 others, cheering for him. He was shocked when he saw Pikachu on Yuya's shoulder. But then he smiled. "You guys are right, as long as I keep believing in myself, my deck and my friends, then there's no way I'm gonna stop fighting." Ash says. His spirit partners smiled and nodded, going back into his soul. Ash turned towards Suoh, eyes lit up with determination. "Listen here Suoh, as long as I fight for what's right, then there's nothing that'll stop me from making sure you don't get your way!" Ash declares, preparing to draw his card.

"Oh be quiet and get on with it so I can have my turn." Suoh annoyingly remarks.

"You're not gonna get another turn." Ash says, shocking Suoh. "It's my move!" Ash spun around while drawing. "I DRAW!" He yells drawing the card in a wide arc, a trail of red, blue, white and black colors and sparkles followed with the drawn card. Just then, he saw a light coming from the observation room. He looked, and saw it was coming from Yuya's pendulum necklace. Ash stared for a bit before noticing the three monster cards in his hand and Totodile glowing, before they changed into Pendulum cards. He was beyond shock that happened before smiling, knowing what to do. The lights in the field dimmed and a stage light shone on Ash as he spread his arms and legs wide. "Ladies and gentlemen, it's show time!" Ash declares in a fashion, akin to a dueltainer, receiving a variety of reactions. Suoh looked annoyed, the three kids were cheering for Ash to continue, Zuzu, Gong, Pikachu and Sora looked amused, Yuya looked amused and annoyed. "As you can see I'm in a pretty bad situation, my two monsters can't hold up to the evil Suoh's big bad dragons." Suoh gained a tick mark at that remark. "But watch as I tip the scale to my favor." Ash grabs two of his cards. "Pendulum scale that is." Everyone gained shocked looks at what he said.

"Did he just say…?" Everyone but Yuya started.

"Pendulum!?" Yuya exclaims in shock.

"Now, with the Scale 1 Pikachu the Electric Mouse Pokemon and the Scale 8 Bayleef the Wafting Aroma Pokemon, I set the Pendulum Scale, I'm making a comeback starting now." Ash says. Two pillars came to both sides of him. Pikachu rose into the pillar to Ash's right. A creature that resembles a pale yellow sauropod dinosaur with a large leaf shaped like a scythe protrudes from its head. Curled leaf-like growths, stated to be buds with small tree shoots inside, sprout in a ring around its neck. It has red eyes, a short, blunt snout, and a short, pointed tail. There is one large toenail on each of its four feet, rose into the pillar to his left. Pikachu had a 1 below him while Bayleef had an 8 below her. "I can now summon monsters that are level 2 through 7. Swing far pendulum, carve the arc of victory! My monsters are ready to unite, and fight!" A portal opens up between the two and a blue light came from it. "I Pendulum summon, Greninja, the Frog Ninja Pokemon." The light took form and revealed it to be a familiar frog ninja **(2500/2000 lvl: 7 scale: 5)**. Everyone looked on in shock.

"This is…" Suoh trailed off.

"Pendulum summoning." Yuya mutters, depressed.

To be continued…

 **AN: Whoo hoo! Yes I finally got this done! Anyways I hope you all enjoy the duel along with the characters introductions. With Ash using Jaden's power first, I thought it be best he gets that power first in my opinion. Onto other matters, I had been thinking weather or not this should be a sequel to my first fic The Bond, I'd like to hear your guys thoughts on that. I chose the Blue Eyes deck because that's one of the few decks that I know a good deal about. I would also like to give a huge thank you to ChaosPulsar, who helped me with the pokemon card effects. Anyway, like always if you're gonna give criticism I would like it to be constructive and not flames and if you want to support this story then please, fav, follow, review or all 3 to show you do. That's all there is I have to say, I'll see you all next time, so until then, this is FFCM15, signing out!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Pokemon ARC-V: Bonds of Unity**

 **AN: Hello everybody, and welcome to the 3rd chapter of Pokemon ARC-V: Bonds of Unity! This chapter will give the thrilling conclusion of Ash's very first duel, along with him explaining where he comes from, showing his Kalos Pokemon and where he's gonna live! So without further adieu, I give you chapter 3 of Pokemon ARC-V: Bonds of Unity!**

 **Disclaimer- I don't own Pokemon or Yu Gi Oh ARC-V**

Human speech- "Hey"

Human thought- ' _Hey'_

Spirit speech- " **Hey"**

Spirit thought- ' _ **Hey'**_

" _Telepathy"_

 **Monster/Player status**

Chapter 3

 **(Unknown location)**

In a room that could qualify as some sort of high tech surveillance room, based off of all the computers that displays maps of various parts of Paradise City, charts and graphs, with people working on said computers. In the center, sitting in a chair, was a thin young man with pale skin and grey hair, the front layer being a lighter grey than the back. His hair is arranged in a simple style, flicking upwards at the ends. His eyes are purple, and he wears red-framed spectacles. His ears are both pierced with black stud earrings. He is dressed rather casually wearing a dark-blue sweater, white pants that end just above his ankles, and white shoes, along with a long red scarf wrapped around his shoulders with the ends trailing to the small of his back. Standing next to him stood a rather muscular man wearing a suit and sunglasses along with a phone headset (I have no idea what they are called but it's basically an earpiece that's connected to a phone). Suddenly, a certain part part of Paradise City popped up on the big screen in the room, with charts and and graphs rising and falling, detecting something. Everyone on a keyboard started typing fast. "A strong summoning energy has just popped up." A female worker says.

"Do we know what type of summoning it is?" The young man asks.

As the workers typed, a loading bar appeared on screen. When it became full it then displayed the word 'PENDULUM' became visible. "It's Pendulum summoning, sir." A male worker said this time.

"Then it is most likely Yuya Sakaki is in a duel." The young man, who looks like the leader of the workers, states dismissively, thinking of the Pendulum pioneer.

"Not this time sir, take a look at this." Another female worker states, typing on her keyboard. On the screen, a virtual duel board popped up with 7 cards popping up. Two of them were face downs in the spell and trap zone. Two appeared disconnected from the monster zones, one on the left and one on the right. The last three appeared in the monster zone. 5 pages opened up, showing the monsters in the Pendulum zone and monster zone.

"I have never seen those cards before." The suited man says.

"Exactly. We have nothing on any of these cards at all. And these Pendulum cards don't belong to Yuya Sakaki." Another male worker states.

"So there is another duelist who can use Pendulum summoning." The leader states. "What do we have on this duelist?" Another page popped up with Ash's face but nothing else. No win/lose ratio, no personal info, not even an address. This causes the leader to hum in intrigue.

"What are you thinking, Mr. President?" The suited man asks.

The young man closes his eyes for a moment, before opening them again, but this time, they had a calculating glint in them. "I think a new piece has been brought onto the board." He states.

 **(You Show Duel School)**

Everyone, but one, was either in awe or shock at the two blue pillars with monsters in them that they were seeing. Here was a duelist they never seen before performing the brand new summoning method made by one Yuya Sakaki, whom was the most shocked out of everyone there. "How?" He asks in a stunned manner.

Suoh then shook off his shock and gave another smug grin. "As surprising as that was that monster won't help you one bit. It's useless to fight my Blue Eyes because it's 500 ATK points greater than your monster, and you'll just self destruct both it and my Azure Eyes if they battle." Suoh smugly explained.

Ash didn't say anything for a few minutes. Then he smirked. "Don't be too sure of yourself." This confused everyone. "I'm activating my face down trap card, Torrent!" The card flipped up, revealing a Greninja surrounded by a spiral of water and an aqua aura covering it's body. "I can only activate this card when I have a Water attributed 'Pokemon' monster on the field and when my LP is equal to or less than 1000! This card allows one Water attributed 'Pokemon' monster's ATK to double during the turn it's activated!" Greninja was surrounded by the same glow as in the card. **(2500x2=5000)**

"Yes! Now Ash's monster has enough ATK points to finish this duel!" Gong exclaims.

"Go Ash!" The kids cheered on. Sora just watched on silently.

"Pikachu, Pikapi!" Pikachu also cheered his trainer on. Yuya still looked stunned.

"Hey, what's going on here?" A voice behind them asks. Everyone in the viewing room turned around and saw 2 new individuals. This time 2 adults, one male and one female. The male, who was the one that spoke, has dark blue eyes and brown/orange hair. He wears a red/orange jumpsuit with a green trim and red fire design. Underneath, he wears a dark blue shirt with another fire design. He also wears a white whistle.

The female is a fairly tall and youthful-looking woman of slender built with green eyes and light skin. She has long blond hair the front bangs being golden in color. Her hair is tied in a ponytail and sections out as spikes. Her bangs part to the right side and frame her face. She wears an aqua-colored long-sleeve shirt and blue jeans with brown low shoes. She also accessories with silver big-loop earrings, two golden bands on her left wrist, and a small golden necklace hanging under her neck. Everyone was shocked to see them. "Mom, Principle Boyle!" Yuya exclaimed in surprise.

"What are all of you doing here?" Yoko Sakaki asks curiously. Then she and Skip Boyle noticed Pikachu on Yuya's shoulder. While Skip gave an exclamation of shock, Yoko smiled and walked up, scratching Pikachu behind his ears, earning a 'chaa' in response. "And who is your little friend here, Yuya?" She asks.

"We found him in Ash's bag." Yuya replies. This confused Yoko and Skip, who recovered from his shock. Yuya sighed and then started explaining everything that happened so far. The 2 adults were angered that the children gotten harassed, and then surprised that the new kid stepped in before Ally got hurt, getting the two single parents to already taking a liking to him, even before meeting him. They listened as Yuya told them about the wager and how the duel's been going. Yuya then dropped the bomb of the story. "Not only did he do a Dueltainer introduction, but he also performed Pendulum summoning as well!" He says. This was the biggest shock to both adults. They looked at the field and sure enough, they saw the signature glowing pillars of the new summoning method.

"That boy will be giving the You Show Duel School a bright future when he joins!" Skip exclaimed excitedly, getting sweatdrops from everyone else.

Back at the arena, Ash continues his turn. "I'm gonna attack your Blue Eyes with Greninja. Water Shuriken!" As the frog ninja Pokemon monster prepares it's attack, Suoh runs up to a chest and kicks it open, grabbing the spell that popped out and played it.

"I'm playing another Extreme Sword, giving my Blue Eyes a 1000 point boost!" He declares. Blue Eyes glowed for a bit. **(3000+1000=4000)** It then got destroyed by a blue shuriken, the shockwave pushing Suoh back. **(Suoh LP: 1500-1000=500)** He dusts himself off, grin still in place. "You almost had me there. Now hurry up and end your turn, your other monsters aren't enough to take out my Azure Eyes." He states.

"You're right." Ash agrees, shocking everyone. Then he smirked. "That's why it's gonna be Greninja who destroys it." This confused everyone. "I activate Greninja's special ability! Now since he destroyed a monster by battle, I'm allowed to play the equip spell card, Battle Bond, and it just so happens it's in my hand!" Ash declares, showing that the last card in his hand was in fact Battle Bond. (AN: Just find the coolest Ash-Greninja picture you can find.) Greninja gave a cry before getting enveloped in a water veil. When it dispersed, it showed the frog ninja having similarities to Ash along with a giant water shuriken on it's back, amazing the crowd and shocking Suoh. "Everyone, I'd like you to meet the main star's current performing form, Ash-Greninja!" Ash's intro gave the vibe of a performer introducing the main event, exciting everyone, even Yuya cracked a smile at it. "When equipped with Battle Bond, his ATK points go up the same amount as my LP." He explains. **(5000+1000=6000)** "Not only that, because thanks to it being played via Greninja's special ability, he gets to attack again." Ash explains further, shocking everyone.

"Suoh's Azure Eyes has 2500 ATK points." Yuya starts.

"While Ash-Greninja has 6000 ATK points." Gong continues.

"And Suoh only has 500 LP left." Sora picks up.

"That means…" Suoh trails off, shocked.

"I win. Now! Ash-Greninja, Super Water Shuriken!" Ash commanded. Ash-Greninja took the shuriken off his back before he held it up high and it grew massively, he then threw at the dragon. Azure Eyes tried fighting back but was ultimately destroyed. The shockwave caused Suoh to go flying, while screaming, before sliding along the ground. **(Suoh LP: 500-3500=0000 LOSE)**

 **(Ash: WIN)**

Everyone was silent as the Action Field disappeared. But then everyone in the viewing room cheered.

"He won!" The kids cheered excitedly.

"PI, PIKAPI!" Pikachu was jumping up and down on Yuya's shoulder, getting a laugh from the young teen.

In the control room, Zuzu let out a sigh of relief at the duel's conclusion. ' _He won, thank goodness he won.'_ She thought as she headed out of the room to meet up with the others.

"The Gong is so happy that Yuya can keep his cards!" Gong cried out, with 'manly' tears falling from his eyes.

Sora just watched with a jovial smile on his face.

"Oh boy! That duel has gotten me so fired up! And I can't wait to actually talk to him about joining the school!" Skip says, excitedly.

Yoko smiles. "Well he seems to be quite the duelist, having been able to perform Pendulum summoning to take down a Synchro user." She says to Yuya, who was looking down at the ground with an unreadable expression. He was angered and sadden that someone else was able to use Pendulum summoning, but he was also glad that Ash won, letting him to keep his cards. Along with that, he protected one of his friends and came to his defense when Suoh talked bad about him.

Looking up, Yuya smiled brightly. "Yeah you're right." He agrees. Just then Zuzu, came out of the control room and was surprised about the 4 others in the viewing room.

"Dad, Mrs. Sakaki, Gong, Sora, when did you get here?" Zuzu asks.

"Gong and Sora have been here since the start of the duel." Gong replies on his and Sora's behalf.

"Your father and I came just in time to catch the end of the duel." Yoko says. Skip then ran up to his daughter.

"Why didn't you call and tell me you found an excellent candidate for the school!? With 2 Pendulum users, this school will reach the top of the dueling world in no time! We-" Skip was about to go on about how You Show would be the greatest, when-

SLAP!

Zuzu hit her father with a paper fan she got from somewhere. "Because I didn't want you to scare him! You act too hyper sometimes and that's what scares people away!" Zuzu rants as Skip rubs his sore face. This causes everyone to sweatdrop, Pikachu included, remembering Misty and her mallet.

Yuya shakes his head and walks to the arena door, Pikachu still on his shoulder. "Well how about we go and congratulate him?" Yuya suggests. This causes Zuzu to cool down and nods, everyone else doing the same.

Meanwhile, in the arena, Ash blinks and looks around, looking confused. "What happened?" He asks. Then he noticed Suoh on the ground. "Wait did I win?"

" **You sure did!"** Yuma exclaims, coming out of his soul with Jaden and Yusei.

" **That was sweet bro!"** Jaden says with a grin.

" **Yes, not only did you use the bonds you have with your friends, believed in yourself and your deck, but you also managed to use Pendulum summoning."** Yusei says, shocking Ash.

"I used Pendulum summoning!?" Ash asks in shock, getting confused looks from his partners.

" **You don't remember?"** They asked in unison, getting Ash to shake his head.

"The last thing I remember was seeing Yuya's pendulum glow and seeing my cards change." As Ash recalls what happens, he took out Greninja's card and looks at it. Sure enough it turned into a Pendulum monster. "Wow, I won my first duel and I have Pendulum cards now." He breathes out. He then smiled and looked at his spirit partners. "And I have to thank you guys for it, if it wasn't for your words, things could've gone differently." Ash thanks the 3 of them, who smiled in return. As they go back into his soul, Ash notices Suoh getting up. He walks over to him as he pushed himself up onto his hands and knees and the others enter the arena. "Alright a deal's a deal, now you apologize for what you said." Ash says. To everyone's surprise, Suoh chuckled.

"Not only did the son of a coward beat the Sledgehammer by making a new summoning method, but now some nobody came and beat my super powerful deck with the new summoning method." Suoh starts, hair shadowing his eyes. "But I'm not gonna apologize… and neither of you are gonna keep those cards!" He exclaims, looking up, showing the mad look in his eyes, and lunges forward toward Ash.

As the others called out to Ash in worry, Pikachu jumped from Yuya's shoulder, surprising the teen. "Hey, what are you-" Yuya starts but then got cut off by the sound of electricity.

"PIIIIIIIKKKAAAAAA… CHHHHHHUUUUU!" Pikachu exclaims, shooting a Thunderbolt at Suoh, lighting him up like a christmas tree as he screams, and blinding everyone else. When it was done, everyone looked and saw Suoh on the ground, covered in soot and twitching madly. As Pikachu landed back on the ground in front of the shocked audience, Ash walked up to Suoh.

"Now… what were you saying?" He asks, unaffected of what Pikachu did.

"Ok… you win. I won't try to steal your cards anymore… And I'm sorry about what I said about Yusho Sakaki." Suoh admits, dazed and in pain.

Ash nods and looks at him coldly. "Good, now get out of here, and I better not catch you harassing anybody from You Show Duel School again." He warns coldly. Suoh nods and makes a hasty getaway from the school. Ash sighs and looks at everyone else, who was still shocked at what happened. "Sorry that you guys saw that." Ash apologizes, snapping the audience out of their stupor. The three kids grinned and tackled him to the ground in a hug.

"That was amazing!" They chorused together.

"The way you dueled was absolutely wonderbar!" Fredrick starts.

"Not to forget your monsters were cute and funny!" Ally continues.

"And your Pendulum summoning was really awesome!" Tate finishes their praises.

"Thanks you guys, but do you mind letting me up?" Ash requests. The kids complied, and Ash pushes himself into a sitting position. He chuckles as he rubs the back of his head as he notices how starry eyed they were. He then saw a hand being offered to him, causing him to blink and look who it was. It was Yuya, smiling and with Pikachu on his shoulder.

"Need a hand?" Yuya asks, grinning. Grinning right back, Ash took the offered hand and got pulled up.

"Thanks." He thanked Yuya, who waved it off.

"Pika, pikachu chu, Pikapi!" Pikachu says, hopping off of Yuya's shoulder and onto Ash's, then he rubbed his cheek against his trainer's, getting a laugh from said trainer.

"Ok, I know you're happy Pikachu, but come on, that tickles, hahahaha!" Ash says as he was showered with affection, and everyone watching smiled, seeing the strong friendship between the two.

Ash then felt a hand on his shoulder and turned around, seeing it was Zuzu, smiling. "That was a really great duel Ash, and thanks for defending Yuya." She says.

Ash grins. "Hey it's no problem, I can't stand people bullying others." Ash casually says, waving off her thanks.

"But how did you perform Pendulum summoning?" Yuya asks, wanting to know how Ash got Pendulum cards.

"I honestly don't know, I saw my cards glowed and they just changed right in front of me." Ash says, leaving out that Yuya's pendulum also glowed, surprising everyone, Yuya especially.

"Hey that's what happened to me!" Yuya exclaims, surprising Ash and Pikachu.

"You too? Wait did it happen during your duel against this Sledgehammer guy I've been hearing about?" Ash asks, getting a nod from Yuya.

"I wonder what caused your guys' cards to change." Sora says, getting everyone to look thoughtful, but then Sora looked like he remembered something. "Oh that's right." He suddenly says, getting everyone's attention. He then stood in front of Ash. "Some of us haven't officially been introduced to you yet." What he said got everyone to realize he was right. "I'm Sora, I'm a student at this duel school too." Sora introduces himself offering Ash a handshake, which he accepted.

"The Gong's name is Gong, and Gong is very thankful that you defended his friends from Suoh." Gong goes next.

Ash looked at him curiously. "Do you not go to You Show too?"

Zuzu shakes her head. "No, Gong goes to the school that is run by his dad. It's called the Strong Dojo." She explains.

"He's also my best friend." Yuya adds.

"Really? That's cool." Ash compliments.

Just then Skip got right into his face. "The name's Skip Boyle, principle of You Show Duel School! And with you joining us, we would have two Pendulum users! We will be at the top of the dueling world in no time! I'm getting pumped up just thinking about it! We-" Skip was about to go on but…

SLAP!

He got slapped by Zuzu's fan. "This was what I told you not to do!" She fumes, getting everyone to sweatdrop, Ash especially.

' _I'm getting a sense of deja vu.'_ Ash thinks to himself, remembering Misty. But then he remembered something. "Wait Boyle? Then does that mean…?" Ash asks trailing off.

Zuzu sighs, knowing the question about to be asked. "Yeah, he's my dad." She answers, surprising Ash and Pikachu.

"Wow, I never would've guessed." Ash says.

"Pika." Pikachu squeaks in agreement.

Yoko then steps up. "My name's Yoko Sakaki, I'm Yuya's mother." She introduces herself. This causes Ash to look surprise.

"You're Yuya's mom? But you look so young." Ash says, unintentionally complimenting her.

"Not again." Yuya mutters, knowing what's gonna happen next.

"You really think I look young?" Yoko asks, looking surprised. Then she squealed out loud. "You're so adorable!" This causes Ash and Pikachu to blink and everyone else to sweatdrop.

Ash and Pikachu also sweatdrop, but in weirdness. "Thank you?" Ash says, but sounds questioning. He then shakes his head and smiled. "Anyways, my name's Ash Ketchum." He then brings his shoulder that Pikachu is sitting on forward. "And this is my partner, Pikachu."

"Pi pikachu." Pikachu says, lifting a paw for a wave.

"So Pikachu is it's name?" Fredrick asks.

"I never heard of a Pikachu." Tate states.

"Me neither." Ally says.

"Well, I wouldn't expect you to." Ash replies. This confuses everyone and Ash sighs. "Why don't we head to someplace more comfortable?" Ash suggests. Everyone agrees and they head to the lounge area. Later, everyone was in the lounge either sitting on the seats or on the ground, Pikachu sitting on Ash's lap. "Ok, so Pikachu here is a Pokemon." He starts.

"Pokemon?" Yuya asks, getting a shrug from Zuzu and Gong, both of whom were at his sides.

"The reason why you don't know what they are, is because they don't live on this planet, neither do I." Ash says, getting shocked reactions from everyone. He then went onto explaining everything about his world. Pokemon, the regions, technology, the Pokemon League, Pokemon battles, etc. He even told them about some of his adventures, along with how he got there, the latter of which he left out a few things, his spirit partners, the dimensions and the war. Needless to say, everyone was either in shock or awe. "And that's how we got here." Ash says, finishing his explanation.

Everyone was processing everything they were told, eventually they came to grips with it. "So… you came from another planet." Gong says.

"Yep." Ash nods.

"That is inhabited by creatures called Pokemon and doesn't have Duel Monsters." Skip continues.

"Yes." Ash nods again.

"And you came here by accident and now you don't have anywhere to go along with no friends-" Zuzu started.

"PIKA!" Pikachu exclaims, offended.

"Sorry, human friends, and you don't have anyone to go to." Zuzu says, looking sadden at the concept of being alone.

"Yeah." Ash sadly nods, looking down. He then felt himself being pulled into a hug, that felt comforting and motherly. He looks up and sees it was Yoko.

"It's ok to let your emotions out honey. It's only natural considering the situation you're in." She says soothingly.

"Yeah, and we got your back! We'll be with you 100%!" Yuya says, determinedly. Everyone voiced their own agreement, Pikachu included. This causes Ash's eyes to fill with tears, that soon falls freely.

"Thank you. Thank you all so much." He sobbed into Yoko's shirt, hugging her. Everyone smiled at that and waited for him to stop crying. Eventually, he did, pulling out from the hug. "Thanks, I really needed that." Ash thanked. "Sorry about the shirt."

"It's ok Ash." Yoko waved it off.

Yuya then looked thoughtful, before looking like he had a great idea. "Hey I got an idea!" He says gaining everyone's attention. He then points to Ash with a grin. "How about you come and live with me and my mom?" What he suggested surprised almost everyone, Yoko just smiled.

"That is a great idea Yuya." Yoko agrees.

Ash tries to deny. "But wait you don't have to do that." He says.

"Ash, like Yuya said, we will help you however we can, sharing our home with you is a way to show that." Yoko says.

Ash was silent. Then he looked at his longtime partner, who did the same. "What do you think, Pikachu?" He asks, not knowing the smiles he got from everyone else, as they saw how strong their friendship was.

"Pikapi, pikachu pi ka, pika." He says smiling.

Ash also smiles. "Ok." He says, then looks at Yoko and Yuya, who moved to stand behind his mom. "We accept your offer, Mrs. Sakaki, Yuya." This causes Yuya to cheer and everyone else's smile to grow.

"Please Ash, call me Yoko." Yoko corrects him.

"Ok, Yoko." Ash says. He then felt a tug on his pant leg. He looked down and saw it was Ally. "Yes?" He asks.

"Can we see your other Pokemon?" She asks excitedly. This causes the other kids, teens and Skip to look at him in excitement.

"Yeah, we wanna see what they look like." Tate and Fredrick says.

"It would be awesome to see something new." Sora said.

"The Gong is also curious as to see what they are like." Gong follows up.

"I'm getting fired up just by thinking of seeing them!" Skip continues.

"This does give us a chance to see how well we interact with Pokemon." Zuzu states, acting mature but on the inside is just as excited as everyone else.

"Yeah, it would be awesome to meet some more of them." Yuya says.

"I'm actually curious to see them as well." Yoko finishes.

Ash grins. "Alright! This will actually give my Pokemon a chance to stretch. But let's move this to the duel arena, we'll need the space." He says. Everyone nods and moved to the arena. As everyone enters, Ash grabbed the pokeballs on his belt, expanding them. Everyone else looked on in curiosity. "Come on out everyone!" He yells as he throws the pokeballs into the air and they popped open, blue and white energy coming out and landing on the ground.

The first one to materialize is Greninja in a ninja stance. "Gren ninja!" He says upon release, Yuya and Tate looked excited at the ninja frog.

The next Pokemon was an avian Pokémon that closely resembles a falcon. Its plumage is predominantly red-orange, with gray underparts and black tips on its long, pointed wings. Ovular orange spots dot its underside, and flame patterns mark the boundaries between colors on its body. Large yellow talons extend from the shaggy feathers on its legs. It has a pointed crest atop its head and a black and yellow mask-like pattern around its eyes. Its black beak is hooked with a yellow cere. It also has long black tail-feathers marked with three yellow "v"-shapes. The tail ends in two points and has another feather sticking out of the base on each side, giving the impression of the fletching on the end of an arrow. It came out with it's wings tucked to it's sides, and spread them wide. "Talonflame!" Talonflame the Scorching Pokemon shrieked. Yoko, Zuzu and Ally looked at it's majestic appearance in awe.

The third Pokemon was a small, bipedal bird-like Pokémon. It has red, cape-like wings that are connected to its tail with green undersides and small clawed hands. It has red chest feathers, a white abdominal area and legs with small yellow feet. It has a green, mask-like face with an orange stripe down the middle, as well as orange rings around its eyes. It has a small, red beak, and a white patch underneath it. It also has three orange tassle-like appendages jutting out of the back of its head. Its eyes have black sclera and large yellow irises. It then raised it's clawed hands clawed hands, posing, and showing it's wings. "Hawlu lucha!" Hawlucha, the Wrestling Pokemon exclaimed. Skip and Gong looked interested in this one.

The fourth Pokemon was a pudgy bipedal dragon like Pokémon that appears to be made of goo. Its ventral portion is mauve, while its dorsal side is lavender. It has bright green eyes, and two green spots on either side of its face and three on either side of its thick tail which curls inward. It has two sets of antennae atop their head that are capable of retracting. The front pair of antennae are short, skinny and stand upright, while the back pair are long and thick, drooping downward behind its head and curling upward toward their tapering ends. A pale green slime drips from it's chin and arms. "Goodra!" Goodra, the Dragon Pokemon cried out. Fredrick had a curious expression on his face when he saw this one.

The last Pokemon was a large bat-like Pokémon with enormous ears suited for precise hearing. It has a mane of white fur sprouting around its neck and upper back. It has two black wings lined with a dusky purple and has maroon grasping claws. A teal membrane fans between its ribcage and wings. When it's mouth is open, two pointed teeth can be seen on its lower jaw. "Nooooiiiii!" Noivern, the Sound Wave Pokemon screeched out. Sora took a liking to this one. Pikachu then jumped down and stood in front of them.

"Everyone, I would like to introduce you to my Pokemon team! You already know my buddy Pikachu. Next, is the Water type starter for Kalos, Greninja. Thirdly, is the fire bird Pokemon, Talonflame. Then, we have the flying wrestling Pokemon, Hawlucha. After that, we have the gooey dragon Pokemon, Goodra. And lastly, we have the sound bat Pokemon, Noivern." Ash introduces each of his Pokemon, whom gave their respective cries as they were introduced.

He then turned toward his Pokemon. "Guys, these are some new friends I just met. So say hi to Yuya, his mom Yoko, Zuzu, her father Skip, Gong, Sora, Ally, Tate and Fredrick." He introduces the You Show (and others) gang. His Pokemon, that didn't meet everyone, gave out their cries of greeting. But then Noivern, Goodra, Hawlucha and Talonflame looked at their trainer, confused as to what happened. Ash notices that and scratches his head. "Right, you guys don't know what happened." He says.

He then went on to explain the situation that they were in, leaving a few parts out. Like Greninja and Pikachu, they were saddened by the fact that they weren't on their world anymore, Goodra especially, but they were happy that they won the fight against Lysandre and that their friends were safe, but were greatly shocked when they heard that Pokemon didn't exist in this world. But they got over it, knowing that they at least have each other and help their trainer however they can, getting him to smile. After the explanation, the You Show gang went up to the Pokemon that caught their attention.

Hawlucha was posing, showing that he was proud of his strength to Gong and Skip, both of whom gave comments of how strong he looked.

Noivern gave cooes as it was being petted on the head by a grinning Sora, who was sitting on Noivern's back.

Goodra and Fredrick looked like they had hit it off greatly, as evident by by the hug they were having.

Zuzu, Ally and Yoko were softly petting the feathery body of Talonflame, who enjoyed the petting very much, he showed it by nuzzling his head against theirs, getting laughs from the 3 females.

Tate and Yuya were amazed by Greninja, who decided to show off some of his attacks and moves, getting the 2 boys to be starry eyed.

Ash smiled and looked at Pikachu, who was back on Ash's shoulder. "Ya know what Pikachu?" He says, getting Pikachu's attention. "Things don't look that bad anymore." He continued.

Pikachu smiled and nodded. "Pikachu pika, Pikapi." He squeaks out.

Ash grinned and looked back at everyone else.

 **(A few hours later)**

After everyone interacted with Ash's Pokemon for a good amount of time, he returned his Pokemon to their pokeballs. Soon, as the sun was setting, everyone decided to go home, with Ash going with Yoko and Yuya, and Zuzu and Skip volunteering to take Ally, Tate and Fredrick home.

As they were walking to the Sakaki home, Ash, having put Pikachu into his backpack, decided to ask a question. "Hey Yuya." He says, gaining their attention. "Can I ask you a question?" Yuya nodded. "Why did Suoh call your dad a coward?" At this, Yoko gained a sad smile on her face and Yuya had a depressed expression on his face. Ash notices this and quickly tries to fix it. "Y-You don't have to tell me if you don't want to." He quickly says.

Yuya shakes his head and adopts the same sad smile his mother was wearing. "No it's ok, you don't have to worry." He says. He then went on to explain to Ash how a few years ago how his dad, Yusho Sakaki, the champion of Paradise City, had disappeared during the day of his match against the Sledgehammer. Yuya then told him how this led to him being bullied and ridiculed, and how he was told he would wound up being a coward like his dad. But he went on to explain the times when Gong and Zuzu helped him whenever it happened, whether it be chasing off bullies, give comforting words or cheer him up with a duel. Yuya also mentioned what his dad use to tell him when he was sad had helped too. Ash felt a wide range of emotions throughout the explanation. Anger at those who bullied Yuya, but relieved knowing that he was never without friends.

When Yuya was done, he looked down at the ground looking close to tears, recalling every time he was bullied. He then felt a hand on his shoulder causing him to look up, only to see the friendly smile on Ash's face. "Hey, it's ok. I'm pretty sure your dad is awesome, and I'm pretty sure he has a good reason for disappearing, you just got to keep hoping that you can find him someday and find out why." Ash says encouragingly. He then looked determined. "And ya know what, I'm gonna help you find him." Yoko and Yuya looked at him in shock.

"But Ash, what about your friends and family back in your world? Don't you want to go back?" Yuya questions, concerned his friend is making the wrong choice.

Ash smiled sadly. "Of course I want to. But I can't when knowing one of my friends is in trouble or if they are in pain, whether it be physically or emotionally." He says, first sounding sad and then determinedly at the end, looking the part too. ' _And I especially can't leave, knowing that the other dimensions are in trouble too.'_ He thought.

Yuya looked shock that someone that he has known for only a few hours was so willing to help him find his dad. He then smiled gratefully. "Thank you Ash." Yuya thanked the Pokemon trainer.

"No problem." Ash waves the thanks off.

Yoko then faked cough, catching the two boys attention. "If you boys are then, we need to head to the house before it gets too late in the night." She states.

"Right." The two boys said, continuing their walk to the Sakaki home.

As Ash passed Yoko, she placed her hand on his shoulder, catching his attention. "Thank you." She whispers to him.

Ash smiles knowing what she means. "No problem." He whispers back. With that, they walked the rest of the way in silence, but with a comfortable atmosphere around them. Ash then thought of the dimensions and the friends he has already made and decided one thing:

' _No matter what, I will help save the dimensions and keep my friends safe.'_

To be continued…

 **AN: And scene! Well that's all for chapter 3 of Bonds of Unity! Many of you wanted me to incorporate Blue Eyes into Ash's deck so many of you maybe disappointed. The reason why I didn't do it is because I'm already gonna be making Ash's deck include Jaden's, Yuma's and Yusei's decks with a few cards I made up myself. But I have a question for you all: Should Ash get Odd Eyes Phantom Dragon, Dark Anthelion Dragon, Clear Wing Fast Dragon and Starve Venemy Dragon? The reason for why I ask will be revealed if you do agree, but not for some time. If you disagree then that's fine, that's your opinion. Anyways, on another note, the ones who took interests in which Pokemon. Tell me if they are just right and which main Arc V character you would like to see to interact with which of Ash's Pokemon. Anyways, as always, the only criticism I want is constructive so no flames. Show support of this story by faving, following, reviewing or all 3. That's about it, so I'll see you all next time in chapter 4, so until then, this is FFCM15, signing out!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Pokemon ARC-V: Bonds of Unity**

 **AN: Hello everybody, and welcome to the 4th chapter of Pokemon ARC-V: Bonds of Unity! I apologize for the wait, I was having major writer's block. The voting for whether or not Ash gets the manga dragons is now officially over! The reviews I got regarding the dragons are all mixed responses, but it looks like a majority is supporting it, so they're in! Matter of fact, one of them is gonna make their debut in this chapter! The chapter is gonna focus on Ash's second day in Standard, along with introducing his new look and his second duel! So without further adieu, I give you chapter 4 of Pokemon ARC-V: Bonds of Unity!**

 **Disclaimer- As always, I own nothing, except a few cards I made up.**

Human speech- "Hey"

Human thought- ' _Hey'_

Spirit speech- " **Hey"**

Spirit thought- ' _ **Hey'**_

" _Telepathy"_

 **Monster/Player status**

Chapter 4

 **(Sakaki house)**

Soft rays of sunlight shone through the window and landed on a small yellow furred body, which twitched and stirred. It then uncurled revealing it to be Pikachu, who stretched. "Chaaa." He yawned. Pikachu then looked around and looked down seeing he was on top of Ash. Pikachu then went up to Ash's face and started shaking his trainer's head. "Pikapi." Pikachu squeaks out, trying to get Ash up. He didn't even stir. Pikachu tries shaking his head harder. "Pikapi!" Pikachu squeaks louder.

Ash just turns on his side, unintentionally knocking down Pikachu. "5 more minutes mom." He groans out, still very asleep. Pikachu glares at his partner from the floor, before a devious smile formed on his face.

In the room of one Yuya Sakaki, he was having a very good dream. He was dreaming that he was in the Pokemon world where his new friend came from. And it wasn't just him that was there, but his friends, mom and Principal Boyle as well were there. He was just about to open up a pokeball that was on him, but sadly, all good things must come to an end.

"AHHHHHHHHHH!" A loud, pained scream caused Yuya to jolt awake, yelping as he fell off of his bed. He recognized that voices to be Ash's, so he promptly shot up and ran out in the hallway, then barged into Ash's room, which he and his mom showed to Ash last night.

"Ash are you ok!?" Yuya asked in concern. That's when he took in the very comical sight of Ash on the floor, twitching occasionally as electricity danced across his body, and a laughing yellow rodent on the bed.

Ash eventually shook the shock off, before glaring up at his laughing partner. He then looked away, arms crossed. "It wasn't that funny." He mutters to the grinning electric mouse, which caused said mouse to laugh again. Ash was still looking away, before a smirk came onto his face. "Fine, then I guess I have to keep all the tasty ketchup for myself." He declares loud enough for Pikachu, waiting for the reaction.

He got it, as a look of horror expressed itself onto the mouse's face, before getting on his knees in front of Ash, and paws in a begging manner. "Pika chu pi, Pikapi!" Pikachu begs for forgiveness, not wanting his favorite food to be taken away.

Ash takes one look at Pikachu, before he laughs his head off. Pikachu then realizes that Ash was just fooling with him, getting the mouse to glare at his human. "Sorry Pikachu, but I couldn't help but get a little payback." Ash grins. They were both looking at each, before they both laugh together, all the while Yuya was at the doorway, staring in bewilderment. The 2 occupants in the room noticed him after calming down from laughing. "Oh, morning Yuya." Ash greeted.

"Pika pikachu." Pikachu also greeted while waving a paw.

Yuya stared for a moment longer before shaking his head and smiling at the two. "Morning you two, how'd you sleep?" He asked, curious of how well his friend slept.

"Great, that is until I got fried." Ash says, giving a look at Pikachu, who rubbed his head sheepishly.

"That's great! Anyway, my mom might be making breakfast now, so hurry up if you don't want to miss it!" Yuya says before dashing back into his room to get ready for the day.

As Yuya exits the room, Yusei, Yuma and Jaden appeared from Ash's soul. "Hey guys." Ash greeted his duelling partners/mentors.

" **Morning Ash."** The three greeted back.

" **Did you sleep well?"** Yusei asked their host.

"Perfectly fine." Ash states, putting on his clothes from yesterday, because they were basically the only clothes he has.

" **You're gonna need some new clothes, you can't wear those all the time."** Jaden points out.

"I know, but I don't want to be too much of a bother to them, they're already letting me stay here." Ash states, putting on his cap and Pikachu jumps on his shoulder.

" **They're gonna notice eventually Ash, and I have a feeling they're gonna get you clothes whether you want them to or not."** Yuma said, being pretty sure that the Sakaki's are stubborn.

"Pika pikachu, Pikapi." Pikachu even agreed with the spirits.

"Alright, I'll ask them." Ash caves in. The spirits nodded and went back into his soul as Ash leaves the room with Pikachu. Immediately after exiting, a bark was heard, then a small Pembrooke Welsh Corgi dog came running up to him and paw at his pant leg. "Hey there En." Ash greets the small dog with a pat on the head before picking him up. This allows the dog to be close enough to lick Ash's face, which it did. "Hahahaha, come on En, stop that, it tickles." Ash gets out through his laughter. The dog licked his face a few more times before stopping and gave a bark to Ash.

"Pika, pikachu." Pikachu greets En too, also getting a bark from the small dog.

Ash then felt something brush up against, looking down he saw it was a cat with a yellow eye and blue eye rubbing it's head against his leg. Ash knelt down to put En down and pet the cat. "Morning to you too Core." Ash greets the purring cat. Last night, when Ash, Pikachu, Yuya and Yoko entered the Sakaki home, a bunch of cats and dogs immediately greeted Yuya and Yoko. Ash and Pikachu were curious about the pets that looked to have qualities of certain Pokemon. The pets took notice of the duo and greeted them as well, taking an immediate liking to them, especially Ash since he gave an atmosphere similar to Yuya. Back to the present, after Ash gave En and Core (He found the pun a little amusing when he was told their names) enough attention, he slid down the pole to the bottom floor. When he landed at the bottom he turned to the kitchen and saw the faces of Yuya, Yoko, and, surprisingly, Sora. "Sora? What are you doing here?" Ash asks, curious of why one of his young friends were there.

"Oh, I always stop by here early in the morning to have some of Yoko's delicious pancakes." Sora states, before popping a piece of said food into his mouth.

"And the first time he was here, my mom gave my pancakes to him." Yuya mutters, still bitter about that incident, causing Sora to stick his tongue out at him and Ash and Pikachu to exchange awkward smiles.

"Good morning Ash, Pikachu." Yoko greets the otherwordly duo with a warm smile, batch of fresh pancakes in hand.

"Good morning Yoko./ Pikachu pi." Ash and Pikachu greeted the blonde woman, before sitting at the table.

"By the way Ash," Yoko starts, putting the pancakes in front of Ash. "I was wondering if your other Pokemon need to eat something?" She asks.

Ash looked thoughtful. "Well usually they eat pokemon food that are meant for their types, but they can also eat berries or something, as long as it's a part of their diet." He says after a minute.

"Well we do have a good assortment of berries along with vegetables and fruits." Yuya says as he was looking in the fridge, originally to get some OJ, but now started to get some fruits and vegetables out for Ash's Pokemon.

"What does Pikachu like to eat?" Sora asks, ketchup bottle in hand. He was about to pour some of the contents onto his pancakes, but a yellow blur dashed past him, taking the ketchup bottle with it. Sora blinked owlishly a few times before looking for the ketchup, spotting it in the grasp of a certain yellow furred thief. "Hey, I was using that!' Sora exclaimed, angered that the ketchup was swiped from him.

"Pika." Pikachu growled out, glaring at Sora with sparking cheeks, which got the blue haired candy lover to back off immediately.

Ash laughs nervously. "Yeah, when it comes to ketchup, nothing's gonna stand in Pikachu's way." He explains to the confused looks of Yoko, Yuya and terrified Sora. He then proceeded to take out his pokeballs. "Come on out everyone!" He exclaims, throwing the balls into the air, all opening with a pop and light coming out and landing on the ground. Greninja, Talonflame, Hawlucha, Goodra and Noivern materialized with a cry of their respective name. The pets of the Sakaki home approached the Pokemon with curious looks, which was shared with the Pokemon. Both parties pretty much got along with each other, but a few of the cats and dogs tried biting or scratching Talonflame, quickly annoying the scorching bird Pokemon, who shooed them off with his wings. "Hey guys, breakfast time." Ash calls out to his Pokemon, who perk up and goes to the kitchen. "Since we don't have any pokemon food, you can only eat the berries or vegetables or fruits that are here." Ash says, looking and sounding apologetic, before gesturing to the food that was taken out for his Pokemon. The Pokemon all nodded before going over to the food. Pikachu was chugging the ketchup, Greninja and Hawlucha decided to simply eat apples and bananas, Talonflame settled with strawberries, Goodra ate lettuce and celery and Noivern used his soundwave ability to detect the sweet fruits, which he was promptly fed by Sora, earning nuzzles from the bat dragon Pokemon.

After breakfast, Yoko looked at the boys. "So what are you three gonna do today?" She asked.

"We were gonna go to You Show and hang out with the others." Yuya answers.

Ash then looked to the ground. "Well actually," He started, gaining everyone's attention. " I was actually wondering if you guys can help me look for new clothes, because these are the only clothes I have." He says, gesturing to his clothes, which the other three noticed were in fact the same ones he wore yesterday. (AN: Even though anime characters pretty much wear the same kind of clothes everyday, I at least assume they have clean sets of said clothes.) "It's ok if you don't want to, you've already done a lot for me and my Pokemon." He adds, still feeling like he's being a bother to them.

Yuya just grinned. "Hey, it's ok, we'd be more then happy to help you look for new clothes." He said.

"I agree, it wouldn't be that much of a bother, in fact I'd be more then happy to help." Yoko smiles.

"Aww, but I wanted to relax and duel at You Show." Sora groans before pouting childishly. This caused Ash and Yuya to chuckle awkwardly and Yoko just smiled.

"Well, how about you go and tell the others at You Show that me and Yuya are gonna be late and we'll be there as soon as possible." Ash suggested. Sora looked thoughtful before gaining an innocent smile.

"Ok." He replies in a cute manner, causing Yoko to swoon at his cuteness and Yuya and Ash to sweatdrop. With that done, they got ready to leave. Ash returned his Pokemon to his pokeballs, except Pikachu who went into his backpack, Yoko filled the food bowls for the cats and dogs, and Ash and Yuya packed their duel disks and decks. After that, the four left the house and went on their way, Sora to You Show and Yuya, Yoko and Ash to find a good clothing store.

 **(Two hours later at You Show Duel School)**

"Where are they!?" Exclaimed a very impatient Zuzu, who was pacing around the lounge area of the duel school. The kids and Sora were sitting around the coffee table and Gong was just standing around. They have been waiting for Ash and Yuya, both of whom should've been there at least an hour ago, even after Sora told them what they were doing.

"Calm down, they could've just lost track of time while out shopping." Sora states, lollipop in mouth.

"That still doesn't excuse that they're over an hour late." Zuzu growls, brandishing her paper fan.

"Gong agrees with Sora, they most likely forgot to keep track of the time, while getting Ash some new clothes." Gong adds his own two cents.

"Fine, I guess you're right. But I'm still not happy that they're late." Zuzu huffs, fan disappearing.

"What do you think Ash's new look is like?" Ally asks. "I bet he's gonna wear something funny." She adds, looking thoughtful.

"I think he's gonna wear something that makes him look like an absolutely wonderbar adventurer." Fredrick adds his thoughts.

"No way, it's gonna be something that'll make him look cool." Tate finishes with his thoughts.

All other conversation was put to a halt by the door swinging open, revealing a grinning Yuya. "Ladies and gentlemen, put your hands together for the new and improved, Ash Ketchum!" He introduces as he moves to the side, allowing Ash to step in. When he did, the other occupants looked shocked, awe or impressed at his changed wardrobe. Ash now wears a short blue vest with two duel pockets on it with a white lining like Yuma's, he kept his black and red fingerless gloves, a black T-shirt like Yusei's but it had a pokeball like symbol in white on the chest area, blue pants with white lines going down the sides of it, and black shoes with red laces on his feet. To top it off, his Kalos League cap is on it's usual spot on his head, and Pikachu on his shoulder.

"Well? What do you guys think?" Ash asks, spinning around to show them the back too.

"Awesome!" The kids exclaim in awe, starry eyed.

"Wow." Zuzu breathes out, eyes wide in shock.

Sora simply gave a thumbs up, sucking on his lollipop.

"Gong is mighty impressed with Ash's new outfit." Gong nods in approval.

"Heh, thanks guys." Ash thanks, rubbing his head sheepishly.

"Now that the cast is all here, it's time for some dueltaining fun!" Yuya calls out in his dueltainer voice. This causes the teens to smile while the kids cheered in delight. Yuya then says the participants for the duel. "And to start the fun will be yours truly," He starts, taking a bow. "And our very new member Ash Ketchum!" Everyone looks at Yuya, surprised that he wanted to face the second Pendulum user of You Show.

Ash then grins. "Ok Yuya, I accept your challenge." He said, pumping a fist. They were about to go into the arena when Ash stopped for a minute. "Oh, hang on a sec." He pauses, confusing everyone. He then took out his pokeballs, looks of understanding crossing the others faces. "Everyone, out!" He calls out, throwing the balls in the air as they pop open, the energy spilling out. The energy formed his team, each giving their signature cries. They looked at Ash. "Everyone, you're about to witness how the game Duel Monsters is played, along with the style of duelling that You Show Duel School teaches!" Ash explains to their curious looks. Noivern and Goodra look excited at seeing how Duel Monsters work, while Hawlucha, Talonflame and Greninja looked intrigued. Ash and Yuya go inside the arena while Zuzu enters the control room.

In the arena, Ash and Yuya were looking at each other with smiles. "Ash, just so you know, even though we're friends, I'm not gonna hold back." Yuya says determinedly.

"Neither am I Yuya, I'm gonna duel with all I got, so you better do the same." Ash replies, also determinedly.

"Now boys, I hope you're ready, because now I'm gonna activate the Action Field: Wild West World!" Zuzu declares, activating the ARC system. The arena became a town that you would see in a cowboy movie. Yuya and Ash activated their disks.

"It's time to see who has the better Pendulum summon." Gong starts.

"The Pendulum pioneer, Yuya Sakaki…" Zuzu says.

"Or the otherwordly human, Ash Ketchum." Sora said.

"This duel is gonna be the battle of the Pendulums!" The young trio exclaims.

"DUEL!" Ash and Yuya shouts in unison.

 **Ash LP: 4000 Hand x5**

 **Yuya LP: 4000 Hand x5**

"Since I was the one to challenge you, you can have first go." Yuya offers.

"Thanks Yuya, I'll take you up on that offer." Ash says, looking at his hand, 2 monsters, 2 traps and a spell. "I'll start off by summoning out Corphish the Hammer Crab Pokemon." He declares. From a portal, came a red-shelled, crustacean Pokémon with a short tail similar to a lobster. Its eyes are saucer-like with small pupils, and it has three spikes on top of its head. It possesses four pairs of limbs in total: two large pincers used for gripping prey, and three pairs of legs used for walking. The upper segments of its legs, underside of its body and lower halves of its pincers are cream-colored. **(1500/1900 lvl: 4)** "But he won't be sticking around, because thanks to his special ability, I can tribute him so I can immediately summon a Water attributed Pokemon monster from my hand. I summon Kingler, the King Crab Pokemon!" A pillar of water engulfed Corphish and when it subsided, there was now a bigger crustacean Pokémon resembling a crab. Its strong shell covers the outside of its body, featuring a red upper-half, and a light tan lower-half. Its upper half is topped with six tall, thin spikes that resemble a crown. Its lower half doubles as its jaw with six fangs overlapping its upper body. Its two outer fangs are much larger than the inner two, and are roughly half as tall as its entire body. Its hips are visibly protruding from its lower body connecting its long, thin legs with claw-like feet. **(2400/1300 lvl: 6)**

"A monster with 2400 ATK points!?" Tate exclaims.

"And on the first turn too!" Fredrick adds.

"Ugh, it looks so creepy." Ally says, a little creeped out.

"Since it is the first turn, it does make sense he would build up his forces." Sora says.

"That's right, Ash needs to go strong if he wants to beat Yuya." Gong states. Ash's Pokemon just watch the events in awe or intrigue.

"I'm gonna place two cards face down, then I'm gonna play the spell, Card of Sanctity." Ash declares. "Thanks to this card, we're allowed to draw until we have six cards in our hand." Ash explains, shocking everyone.

"That means he gets an entire new hand while Yuya only gets one card." Zuzu mutters.

They drew, Yuya one card and Ash six cards. Ash looks at his hand, 2 monsters, 3 spells and 1 trap. "That's all I can do for now, so I'm gonna pass the baton over to you." He declares. **(Ash hand x6)**

"That was a good start Ash, but now it's time to start the real show. I draw!" Yuya declares, drawing. He looks at it and his hand, smiling when he saw a certain card. "For my first act, I'm gonna activate Performapal Drummerilla's effect, by lowering it's level by one, I can summon it to the field!" He states. Out of a portal came a gorilla that looked like it was fused with a drum set. **(1600/900 lvl: 4 scale: 2)** "Now I activate the spell, Performapal Level Role Call. Now by choosing a Performapal monster on my field I can summon more Performapal monsters from my hand for every two levels the targeted monster has, Drummerilla is currently level 4 so I get to summon two monsters, Performapals Sword Fish and Hip Hippo." A literal sword fish **(600/600 lvl: 2)** and a hippo in a performer vest and hat **(800/800 lvl: 3)** appeared.

Ash grins, seeing the playful nature that the monsters have. "Gotta say, those monsters of yours do look cool Yuya, but none of them can beat Kingler." He reminds the Dueltainer.

"Not for long, I activate Sword Fish's ability, now Kingler loses 600 ATK points." Sword Fish multiplied and launched it's copies around Kingler. **(2400-600=1800)** "Now I attack Kingler with Drummerilla. Drummerilla's ability activates, he now gains 600 ATK points." Drummerilla beat it's chest and symbols. **(1600+600=2200)**

Ash looks around but couldn't find an Action Card. So he used a face down. "I'm activating a trap! Protect!" Ash declares as it flips open and a green barrier appeared around Kingler, stopping Drummerilla. "This negates your attack so long as a Pokemon monster is out, and when it's done, it flips itself back down." The card did just that, but Yuya found an Action Card.

"I activate the Action Spell: Wonder Chance, this allows Drummerilla to attack again." Yuya declares. Drummerilla did just that and this time, destroyed Kingler, winds blowing into Ash's face. **(Ash LP: 4000-400=3600)** "Now it's Hippo's turn to attack, hop to it hippo!" Hip Hippo let out a breath, before charging at Ash, ramming into his gut, making him skid back. **(Ash LP: 3600-800=2800)** "And finally, it's time for Sword Fish to cut through!" Sword Fish charged forward and slashed past Ash, causing him to fall to a knee, breathing heavily. **(Ash LP: 2800-600=2200)** "With that, I'll end my turn, and Drummerilla's effect also ends." Drummerilla glowed signaling it's ATK returning to normal **(2200-600=1600) (Yuya hand x3)** Ash was still kneeling worrying everyone. "Hey Ash, are you ok?" Yuya called out in concern.

"Yuya, I knew you were gonna take it too far! Remember, he's still a beginner!" Zuzu yells from the control room.

"Is he ok?" Ally asks the others in the viewing area, concerned for the boy who protected her yesterday.

Ash's Pokemon were also looking on in great concern, feeling powerless that they can't help.

Back in the field, Yuya was growing more worried when Ash's shoulders started shaking. As he was about to go over, everyone heard something weird from him. Laughter. Ash was actually laughing after what happened. He looks up, flashing a grin. "That was awesome Yuya! Oh man, I was not expecting that card to allow you to attack again!" Ash managed to get out through his laughter.

Everyone looked shocked. "You aren't mad about what happened?" Yuya asks.

"Of course not, matter of fact, I'm pumped up! You put me in a tight spot, which means I'm gonna need a good strategy in order to beat you. That proves how strong you are, and if there's one thing I like to do, it's facing strong opponents." Ash explains. His Pokemon nodded, confirming that Ash loves good challenges.

Yuya grins. "I agree, it's always fun to face strong opponents. The stronger the duelists are, the more amazing the show will be." He agrees. At this point point, everyone was pumped up, they couldn't wait to see how Ash will respond to Yuya's onslaught.

"This duel has got Gong all pumped up!" Gong exclaims, flexing his arms.

"This duel is giving me the goosepickles!" Fredrick says, doing his dance. (AN: Is that what he says? I can't tell.)

Sora grins. "All this action is driving me to the edge of my seat." He said.

"Go you two!" Ally and Tate cheers on.

Ash's Pokemon gave out encouraging cries to the two duelists.

Zuzu sighs exasperated. "Boys will be boys." She states.

"It's my turn now, I draw!" Ash declares, drawing. As he looks at the card, he grins, knowing what to do. The lights dimmed down and a spotlight shone on him as he spreads his arms and legs wide. "Ladies and Gentlemen, it's showtime!" He declares. Everyone got excited, knowing what's coming next, though Yuya was anxious. "As you can see, my opponent was able to take a good chunk out of my LP, but watch as I turn this duel around!" He takes two cards from his hand and shows them. "With the Scale 1 Pikachu, the Electric Mouse Pokemon and the Scale 8 Bayleef, the Wafting Aroma Pokemon, I set the Pendulum Scale, I'm making a comeback starting now!" Ash slaps the cards on the edges of his blade, the word 'PENDULUM' lighting up on it in rainbow colors. The two monsters rose in the blue pillars, their respective numbers appearing below them. "With the current set scale, I'm allowed to summon monsters that are between levels 2 through 7 simultaneously! Swing far Pendulum, carve the arc to victory! My monsters are ready to unite, and fight!" Ash chants, throwing an arm up at the end. A portal opens and out came a blue light. "I Pendulum Summon! The level 7, Greninja, the Frog Ninja Pokemon!" The light formed Greninja in it's signature stance. **(2500/2000 lvl: 7 scale: 5)** Everyone looked on in awe. "But wait, there's more! I'm activating the spell card Great Ball, This card allows me to summon a Pokemon monster from my deck so as it is level 4 through 6." The blue, red, white and black ball appeared on the field. "I'm summoning out the level 5 Swellow, the Keen Swallow Pokemon." The Great Ball opened, vicious winds emerging from it, when they dispersed, It revealed a large, dark blue bird Pokémon with a red breast and face. A crest of feathers sweeps back from the top of its head. A blue stripe separates the red markings on its head and chest, and it has a white underside. It has small, narrow eyes, a pointed, yellow beak, and red feet with black talons. Each foot has three forward-facing toes and one pointed backward. Two long, pointed feathers with red tips form its tail. **(2000/500 lvl: 5)** "Now Swellow, attack Performapal Sword Fish with Wing Attack!" Swellow swoops at Sword Fish as Yuya gets an Action Card.

"I activate the Action Spell: Avoid to negate-" Yuya started but Ash cuts him off.

"When Swellow battles, you can't activate any spells or traps to stop it." He states, shocking Yuya, as Sword Fish was destroyed, the harsh winds causing Yuya to skid back. **(Yuya LP: 4000-1400=2600)** "Now Greninja attacks Hip Hippo. Cut!" Greninja forms a white blade and charges at the hippo.

"Avoid will negate it!" Yuya says, playing the Action Spell, but Ash had found his own.

"Action Spell: No Action negates it." The hippo was cut in two causing Yuya to go flying for a bit before landing. **(Yuya LP: 2600-1700=900)**

"Oh no Yuya!" All the humans spectating yelled in concern. Ash's Pokemon were cheering, happy that Ash was able to make a good comeback.

"I'm not done yet!" The Pokemon trainer declares as Yuya quickly gets up. "Now Greninja's special ability activates, allowing me to play the Battle Bond that is in my hand." He did so and Greninja promptly turns into Ash-Greninja. **(2500+2200=4700)** "Not only does he gain ATK points equal to my LP, but he gets to attack again, because of it being played by an effect. Now attack Drummerilla! Super Water Shuriken!" Ash-Greninja prepares the giant shuriken.

"Drummerilla's ability activates, during battle he gains 600 ATK points!" Yuya declares, running for an Action Card as Drummerilla glowed. **(1600+600=2200)** Ash-Greninja throws the shuriken at the gorilla. Yuya was only a few feet from the card. The shuriken made contact, kicking up a large dust cloud.

"YUYA!" All of the Dueltainer's friends yell in concern. Ash's Pokemon looked on in silence, Ash doing the same waiting for the outcome.

The dust cleared, and everyone was surprised by the still standing Yuya. **(Yuya LP: 600)** "This show ain't over yet!" Yuya declares. His friends sigh in relief while Ash and his Pokemon were shocked.

"How do you still have LP left?" Ash asks.

Yuya smiles. "I activated the Action Spell: Double Attack, which doubled my Drummerilla's ATK points up to 4400." He states.

Ash grins. "Well then, I guess for my final act for this turn is to activate Bayleef's Pendulum ability. Once a turn I can summon a level 4 or lower monster from my graveyard, but their ATK points are 0 and effects are negated, but that's ok, because I gain LP equal to that monster's original ATK points. Welcome back Corphish. Plus since my LP is going up, so is Ash-Greninja's ATK." With that, Corphish comes back to the field in DEF mode and with 0 ATK points and a green glow surrounds Ash and a blue glow surrounds Ash-Greninja briefly. **(Ash LP: 2200+1500=3700) (4700+1500=6200)** "Your move Yuya." He declares. **(Ash hand x3)**

With the others, they were discussing what just happened. "That sure was a close one." Sora states.

"Yeah, Gong is relieved Yuya survived that turn." Gong says.

"This really starting to become intense." Tate adds.

"It's giving me the goosepickles." Fredrick said.

"But how will Yuya turn this around?" Ally asks, worried. Ash's Pokemon looked on concerned for their trainer.

Zuzu had her own thoughts. ' _It's like those two are and the same, whenever one makes a move, the other counters it perfectly, I just hope they both be ok in the end.'_ She thought.

In the arena, Yusei, Jaden and Yuma appeared. " **You gotta admit, both of you are really good."** Jaden says.

" **Yeah, this duel can go either way at this point."** Yusei adds his own two cents.

" **Hey all that matters in the end is that you both had a very good time and duel."** Yuma states with a big grin.

"Yeah you're right about that." Ash whispers to them, as to not draw attention to himself. "They then disappear back into his soul.

Yuya places his fingers on his deck. ' _Ash has 3700 LP and his Ash-Greninja has 6200 ATK points, I gotta find a way to turn this duel around.'_ He thought. "Alright, it's my move! I DRAW!" Yuya declares, drawing his card which was followed by a white trail and sparkles, he looks at it, and smiles. ' _Alright!'_ He thought. Just like before, the lights dimmed down, but this time the spotlight was on Yuya as he spreads his arms and legs wide. "Ladies and gentlemen, it's showtime!" He declares, exciting everyone, but Ash and his pokemon are the nervous ones now. "As you can see, I'm only just barely hanging on by a thread here. My opponent has three monsters on his field while I have none. But I'm gonna change that." He states.

"Here it comes." Gong said.

"Yeah, this time it's…" Sora starts.

"Yuya's Pendulum summon!" The younger kids finish.

"Now with the Scale 1 Stargazer Magician and the Scale 8 Timegazer Magician, I set the Pendulum Scale, I'm taking control of this duel starting now!" Yuya presents his cards before slapping them on the edges of his duel disk, the word 'PENDULUM' lighting the blade up. To his sides came the signature blue pillars of the summoning, followed by a white clothed magician and a dark clothed magician, their respective numbers below them. "With the current set Scale, I'm allowed to summon monsters level 2 through 7 simultaneously!" Yuya declares. "My monsters are ready, to swing into action!" He calls out as multiple lights shot out from the portal and took form. "Rejoin the fun level 5, Performapal Drummerilla, also give a warm welcome to level 5, Performapal Partnaga, and finally we have the main star of the show, the level 7, Odd Eyes Pendulum Dragon!" First came the familiar drumming gorilla. **(1600/900 lvl: 5 scale: 2)** Then there was a long stretchy snake like creature wearing a top hat in DEF mode. **(500/2100 lvl: 5 scale: 3)** The final figure to appear was a big red dragon that was in white armor and had red, blue and green jewels attached to it and different colored eyes. **(2500/2000 lvl: 7 scale: 4)** The dragon gave a roar in a show of power.

Ash was looking the monster in awe, but then his eyes changed colors to green and red. Now he saw the figure of Odd Eyes was outlined in a aura that was half light and half dark. Just then, the light half gathered into a ball in front of Odd Eyes, before shooting into Ash's deck, the light being bright enough to snap him back into reality with a gasp, eyes back to normal. " **Ash, are you alright?"** Yuma asks as he and the other two appeared.

"I'm fine." He whispers.

" **Are you sure? I felt you using my power."** Jaden says, concern written on the 3 spirits faces.

Ash just nodded in assurance. " **Ok then, call us if anything happens."** Yusei reluctantly says before the three went back.

"Hey Ash, you ok? You've been staring at Odd Eyes for awhile." Yuya asks.

"I'm fine, I was just surprised by how cool your dragon looks." Ash says, not wanting to worry everyone.

Yuya grins. "Well you're about to see how awesome Odd Eyes can be." He declares. "But first I'm activating Partnaga's special ability. By targeting a monster, that monster gains 300 ATK points for every Performapal monster out on the field. Since there's two, Odd Eyes Pendulum Dragon is about to get a 600 point boost." Patnaga wrapped around Drummerilla and it's gloved hand was placed on Odd Eyes tail, the dragon glowing briefly. **(2500+600=3100)** "Now I'm gonna have Odd Eyes attack Swellow! Along with that, I'm activating Drummerilla's effect, giving Odd Eyes an additional 600 points! Go Spiral Strike burst!" **(3100+600=3700)** As the dragon fired it's attack, Ash received an Action Card and played it.

"I activate Avoid to negate it!" Ash declares but Yuya had other ideas.

"Stargazer's Pendulum effect prevents you from activating one spell this turn." He says as Stargazer negated the activation.

"Then I'll use Protect again!" Ash activates the trap.

"Timegazer's ability prevents you from activating one trap card this turn." Just like with Stargazer, Timegazer negated the trap's activation. The blast hit Swellow, destroying the bird. "And when Odd Eyes battles a level 5 or above monster the damage is doubled! Go Reaction Force!" As Yuya declares that, the shockwave became stronger and sent Ash flying high before he landed on the ground. **(Ash LP: 3700-3400=300)** "Along with that Ash-Greninja loses ATK points." Ash-Greninja glowed dimly as Ash got back up. **(6200-3400=2800)** "Since Partnaga used his ability, level 5 or lower monsters can't attack this turn. So with that, I'll end my turn. Odd Eyes ATK points go back to normal also." Yuya says. **(Yuya hand x0) (3700-1200=2500)**

As Ash got up, everyone was surprised when they saw the grin on his face. "Good moves Yuya, looks like I have to think of a way to turn this duel around in one go." He says, preparing to draw. ' _This next draw will determine the outcome of this duel. But whether I win or lose, doesn't matter. I'm just glad I had some fun.'_ Ash thought to himself, grinning. "I DRAW!" Ash yells, drawing, a trail of red, blue, black and white following the card, surrounded by sparkles. Ash looked at it and was surprised by it, having never seen it before in his deck. Just then, he heard a roar in his head. ' _You wanna join in huh? Alright, I'll summon you out now.'_ Once again the lights dimmed, and a spotlight shone on Ash, as he spreads his limbs wide. "Ladies and gentlemen, I hope you've had a lot of fun today, but unfortunately, this show must come to an end." What he said surprised everyone. "Now, as you know, with my current set Scale, I'm allowed to summon monsters that are level 2 through 7 simultaneously! Swing again pendulum, carve the arc to victory! My monsters are ready to unite, and fight!" The portal opens up and a lone blue light shot through. "I Pendulum Summon! The level 7, Odd Eyes Phantom Dragon!" The light took shape in the form of a dragon that looked similar to Odd Eyes Pendulum Dragon, but it had more armor and was blue where it was red. The dragon gave a roar that also sounded like Odd Eyes Pendulum Dragon.

Everyone looked at the blue dragon in shock. "Odd Eyes…" Yuya starts.

"Phantom Dragon?" Zuzu finishes the question.

"How did Ash get a card like that!?" Gong exclaims.

"I don't know!" Sora shots back.

"Wow…" The kids just breathe out. Ash's Pokemon were also shocked by the appearance of the dragon.

The two dragons locked eyes briefly, before they roared at one another. "Huh, what's wrong Odd Eyes?" Yuya asks his ace.

"I think they want to fight each other Yuya, prove which one is the better dragon." Ash says. Phantom Dragon looked back at Ash and nodded. No one but Ash seemed to notice as he nods back.

"Is that right?" Yuya asks, getting a roar from Odd Eyes Pendulum Dragon in response.

"Yuya!" Ash calls out, getting the tomato haired teen's attention. "Whichever one of us wins or loses, I just want you to know that this was one of the most funnest battles I've ever been in, and I hope there's no hard feelings between us after this is over." He says, raising his fist toward Yuya.

Yuya was silent for a minute before grinning and raising his own fist. "There's no hard feelings here, and I hope that we duel again sometime in the future." Yuya said. Everyone else smiled, seeing the good sportsmanship between the two duelists.

Ash then jumped on Odd Eyes Phantom Dragon. "Let's go!" He declares as Phantom Dragon gave a roar and charges forward. Yuya also hops on his own dragon and they charge forwards, also lowering his goggles. "I attack Odd Eyes Pendulum Dragon with Odd Eyes Phantom Dragon!" The two dragons slowly charged their attacks.

"Drummerilla's effect activates, giving my dragon 600 more ATK points!" Odd Eyes Pendulum Dragon glowed. **(2500+600=3100)**

"Alright!" The kids cheered.

"If this attack goes through, Yuya'll win this." Gong says.

"Go Yuya!" Zuzu cheered from the control room.

Sora just looks at Ash intently, feeling that he still had a trick up his sleeve.

Ash's Pokemon gave out cries of concern for their trainer.

"This duel's all done!" Yuya declares.

Ash then smiles. "I don't think so! From my hand, I activate the spell card, Haze!" Ash declares. The card flips open, showing a dark scaled snake with gold patterns (Seviper) spewing a dark gas cloud from its mouth onto a group of various monsters. A dark gas cloud shoots from it and onto Odd Eyes and Yuya causing the latter to cover his mouth. "I can only activate this card when my opponent's monsters gain points! This card negates the point increase and returns the monster's ATK to normal." Odd Eyes Pendulum Dragon was surrounded by a dark glow. **(3100-600=2500)**

"But then both of our monsters will be destroyed!" Yuya yells out, recovering from the Haze.

"I wouldn't be sure of that." Ash grins as he plays another card. "Also from my hand, I play Helping Hand. This card can not only activate during the Main Phase, but also during battle!" What he said shocked everyone. "Now Ash-Greninja is gonna give Odd Eyes Phantom Dragon a big boost!" A blue glow surrounded Ash-Greninja which then stretched out to Odd Eyes Phantom Dragon, making the charging in it's mouth glow brighter. **(2500+2800=5300)** Yuya tried to find an Action Card but none were insight. "Go Odd Eyes!" Hearing Ash's exclamation, Yuya looks up to see him and Phantom Dragon in the air. "Attack Odd Eyes Pendulum Dragon with Phantom Spiral Force!" The dragon reared it's head back and shot it's beam straight at it's counterpart, the force of the attack caused Yuya to go flying off of his dragon with a yell, before landing on the ground. **(Yuya LP: 600-2800=0000 LOSE)**

 **(Ash: WIN)**

Everyone was silent in shock for a few minutes as the field disappeared. Then, Pikachu gave a loud cheer. "PI PIKAPI!" He yells to his partner. His other Pokemon joining in on the cheering a few seconds later.

The humans looked sad that Yuya lost. "Aw, and he was doing so good too." Ally whines.

"That was not wonderbar for Yuya." Fredrick says.

"I hope he's ok." Tate voices his concern.

"Gong hopes so too, because Yuya was bested on who was the better Pendulum summoner." Gong states.

Sora just watched on silently, eyeing Ash.

Zuzu got up from the chair and exited the control room, concern etched on her face.

Back in the arena, Yuya got up in a sitting, goggles still covering his eyes, looking down. Then, a hand appeared in front of him. He looked up in surprise, seeing it was Ash, smiling. "Need a hand?" Yuya looked at him, then his hand, before smiling a small smile and grabbing it, getting pulled onto his feet. "That was a lot of fun Yuya, hope we can face each other again soon." Ash says with a grin, which the Dueltainer returned.

"Yeah, and if we do, I plan to win next time." Yuya says pumping his fist. The two grinned at each other, before fist bumping each other.

The door the flung open, catching the duelists attention, then a yellow blur came and crashed into Ash, causing the trainer to fall to the ground, the blur revealing itself to be an excited Pikachu nuzzling Ash's face. "Hahahaha! Ok Pikachu, I know you're happy but come on, that tickles!" Ash laughed out. Then the rest of his Pokemon came in and promptly dogpiled on top of him.

While the Pokemon were congratulating/celebrating Ash's victory, the other humans were around Yuya. "Are you ok Yuya?" Zuzu asks, concerned.

"I'm fine you guys. Matter of fact, I feel great! That was one of the best duels I've been apart of!" Yuya cheerfully says, catching his friends off guard. But they soon smiled and started congratulating Yuya for his effort.

As both boys were getting praises from their friends, Ash only had one thought in his head. ' _Odd Eyes Phantom Dragon… what are you?'_ Was his only thought before he continued celebrating with his Pokemon and human friends.

 **AN: And scene! That's all she wrote for chapter 4 of Bonds of Unity! I hope the duel meets at least some expectations, along with Odd Eyes Phantom Dragon's debut! Onto other matters, I was thinking of giving Ash Pokemon cards of the Pokemon he either bonded or saved during the movie specials! I'm also contemplating if the legendaries should be Pendulum and another of the categories, Fusion, Synchro or XYZ! The next chapter will be You Show vs LID! I would also like to give shoutouts to the authors that has helped me with not only the card effects but also Ash's new outfit! As always, only constructive criticism, no flames. Show support to this story by faving, following, reviewing or all 3. That's about it, so I'll see you all next time in chapter 5, so until then, this is FFCM15, signing out!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Pokemon ARC-V: Bonds of Unity**

 **AN: Hello everybody and welcome to the 5th installment of Pokemon ARC-V: Bonds of Unity! As stated in the last AN, this chapter will be happening during the school duel between You Show and LID! But we will be focusing on Ash during the duration of a majority of the competition! Now without further adieu, I give you chapter 5!**

 **Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

Human speech- "Hey"

Human thought- ' _Hey'_

Spirit speech- " **Hey"**

Spirit thought- ' _ **Hey'**_

" _Telepathy"_

 _Flashback_

 **Monster/Player status**

Chapter 5

 **(You Show Duel School, three days later)**

It has been three days since the duel between Yuya and Ash. During that time, Ash and his Pokemon have gotten to become really good friends with the You Show gang. Both parties were able to learn quite a bit about the other, especially the You Show gang, which in part is thanks to Ash's pokedex, which he showed after his duel with Yuya. It helped the humans to understand about Pokemon nature, diet, abilities and attacks. Ash even had his Pokemon do a small training exercise to show the others how Pokemon worked. Needless to say, they were all struck speechless, especially when Ash showed off the actual power of the Battle Bond between him and Greninja. Anyways, Ash's bonds with his friends have grown a lot in a short amount of time. He saw Ally, Tate and Fredrick as little siblings, Sora as a fun loving, mischievous, sweet loving friend that also loves causing little funny problems, Gong as a tough friend on the outside but knows that on the inside he's a big softie, Yoko as an aunt that could pass off as his mom's sister, Skip as a very excitable uncle, and Yuya and Zuzu as little siblings as well, but he would tease the both of them about being a couple, which results in either the two blushing, Yuya denying it and say something that angers Zuzu which results in him getting a paper fan to the face, or Zuzu using the paper fan on Ash if he didn't stop.

A day after the duel of the Pendulum users, Zuzu and Ally had went out to get ice cream for them and the boys after a hard day of practice duels. Ash offered to go along with them but they refused it, with Zuzu saying that they would both be able to handle it. Yuya and Ash started getting worried when both of them didn't get back after an hour. Their worries only grew when Ally returned all by herself, and in a rush.

 _Flashback_

" _Yuya! Ash!" Ally calls out, running into the room. She then yelped as she tripped, sending the bag she was carrying to go flying into Fredrick's hands. She would've fallen to the ground, had it not been for Yuya to catch her before she did._

 _Yuya puts Ally back on her feet. "What's the big hurry Ally?" He asks._

 _Ash walks up next to Yuya, Pikachu on his shoulder. "Are you ok Ally?" He inquires, seeing tears in her eyes._

" _Pika?" Pikachu adds, looking at the girl in concern._

" _I'm ok, but I had to get to you guys quick, there's big trouble." Ally pants out, catching her breathe._

 _Ignoring Fredrick's and Sora's complaints about the melted ice cream, Ash and Yuya continues to question Ally. "Trouble? What kind of trouble?" Ash asks, looking increasingly worried._

" _And where's Zuzu?" Yuya adds, also really worried._

" _She went after Sylvio. She went to duel him to protect you, Yuya!" Ally cries out. Yuya gasps hearing this._

" _Wait, isn't Sylvio the guy who tried to take your Timegazer and Stargazer Magicians?" Ash asks, having been told about what happened._

" _Yeah and if Zuzu is duelling him then she's in trouble!" Yuya exclaims, looking fearful for Zuzu's safety._

" _Hey don't worry, we will find her and save her from that jerk." Ash says, putting a hand on Yuya's shoulder._

 _Yuya looks at him before nodding determinedly. He then looks at the crying Ally. "Ally, can you tell us where they are?" He asks softly._

 _Ally sniffed. "It was at one of those warehouses down by the sea, I think I saw the number 52 on the door." She says rubbing her eyes._

 _They nod, as Ash looks out Pikachu. "Hey Pikachu." He says getting the mouse to look at him. "I need you to stay here and help Ally feel better, can ya do that buddy?" Ash asks._

 _Pikachu nodded. "Pika, pikapi." He says, giving a salute, before jumping down to Ally._

 _Ash then turns to Yuya. "Let's go!" He says, getting a nod in response as they raced off to the warehouses._

 _Eventually, the two makes it to the warehouses, making a beeline to #52. "Zuzu!" Ash and Yuya calls out, stopping at the door, seeing her in the middle looking right at them when she heard them._

" _What in the-?" Zuzu started before getting cut off by Yuya as he and Ash approached her._

" _There you are." Yuya says looking relieved._

" _Are you ok?" Ash asks, checking her over for any injuries._

" _Yeah, I'm fine." Zuzu starts before pointing at Yuya. "Thanks to you. You were here." What she said confused both boys._

" _Uhh, what do you mean here? Here when?" Yuya asks._

" _Zuzu, I've been with Yuya the entire time. There's no way he could've been with me and you at the same time." Ash states, shocking Zuzu, before she looked thoughtful._

" _So strange, was that Yuya? I just, don't know." She mutters, but the boys hear her looked more confused. As Yuya was starting to talk about Zuzu getting air and the smell of the warehouse, Yusei, Jaden and Yuma appeared before Ash._

"Something wrong guys?" _Ash asked telepathically. They recently discovered that Ash can talk to the three duelists this way._

" _ **Yeah, this place looks like as if a bomb had went off."**_ _Jaden says. Ash looks around and notices the former Slifer Red was right. The warehouse interior looked like as if something went off._

" _ **We were suspecting a duel with a psychic duelist happened, but we're not feeling any sort of psychic energies."**_ _Yusei states. They also discovered that the three spirits can sense specific forms of energy, like the Extra Deck summonings, though the 3 spirits are more in tune with their individual summonings._

" _ **But I am sensing a strong Xyz energy residue all over, and I don't think it came from someone from LID, it's too strong."**_ _Yuma adds in, looking serious._

"Do you think that someone from the Xyz dimension did this? Why?" _Ash asks the youngest of the trio._

" _ **Most likely, but I don't know why they would attack an LID student, or why they protected Zuzu."**_ _Yuma said._

" _ **Plus from what Zuzu said, this guy has the same face as Yuya, apparently."**_ _Yusei says, sounding a little thoughtful, which the other 3 noticed._

" _ **What are you thinking Yusei?"**_ _Jaden asked._

 _Yusei shakes his head._ " _ **Nothing, just thinking. Anyways, Ash, you and Yuya and Zuzu should go back, it's starting to get late."**_ _Yusei states._

"Yeah, you're right." _Ash says. The 3 duelists went back into his soul, ending the conversation. With that, Ash, along with Zuzu and Yuya, left the warehouses._

 _Flashback end_

After they returned to You Show Duel School, Zuzu was surrounded by the younger kids, who asked her if she was alright. Tate and Fredrick anyway, Ally just hugged her and babbled of how she was afraid that something could've happened to her. After the questioning and Zuzu comforting Ally, they all went back to their homes. It was now two days after the incident and currently, Skip was teaching them all about the various summoning methods in Duel Monsters. Tate, Ally and Fredrick were sitting in the desks up front, while Ash, Sora, Yuya and Zuzu were in the back, Pikachu sitting on the desk that Ash and Sora are sharing. "Good morning class. Today, we'll be learning all about how to summon in a duel." Skip says, looking at his students in the darkened classroom, with the only light being from a projector which showed crudely drawn pictures of Duel Monster cards. "First up, the Normal Summoning, this is the most basic summoning method, where you take a monster from your hand and place it face-up in ATK mode on the field. Now who can explain a Tribute Summoning? Anyone? You Tate, tell us."

"Sure." Tate says, standing up. "A Tribute Summoning is similar to a Normal Summoning. However there is one key difference. When calling out a level 5 or 6 monster, one must tribute a monster on the field. If it's level 7 or above, then one must tribute 2 monsters." As Tate was explaining, Skip used a pointer stick to show the level 5 and 7 monster pictures, before taking off the bigger drawings, which were the monsters on the field.

Skip nods at the explanation. "That's right, bravo. Someone's been studying." He praises the young genius. But then looks in dismay when he takes notice of the other students. Ally and Fredrick looked bored and hungry while Sora was making weird food mixes and Yuya was trying to get Zuzu's attention, who was lost in thought. Ash was really the only other one besides Tate paying attention to Skip, Pikachu taking a nap right next to him. Although he already knows a majority of the summoning methods, thanks to his spirit mentors. Skip regains his composure. "Alright, next we'll be going over Fusion summoning. So which of you would like to volunteer?" He asks, before Sora stood up from his seat holding a donut and a bagel.

"Next I fusion summon, this donut and Principal Boyle's bagel! Here goes!" Sora exclaims, before biting the bagel. When Sora did that, it woke up Pikachu from his nap, the yellow mouse looking annoyed his nap was interrupted.

"Hey! Not cool, I was saving that!" Skip exclaimed, enraged that someone stole his bagel. This interaction caused Ash to sweatdrop at the comical scene.

Just then Zuzu stood up from her seat. "Hey dad! What about Xyz summon?" She asked, drawing everyone's attention.

"Huh? Xyz summon?" Skip repeats. This question causes her to get a narrowed eye stare from Ash.

' _Why would she be interested in Xyz summoning? Unless…'_ He thought, remembering what Yuma said at the warehouse.

"Since we're learning about summoning today, can you teach us how to Xyz summon?" Zuzu asks.

"No, I'm afraid not. After all, I can't teach what I don't know. Xyz is one of the trickiest types of summoning there is. Why? You know someone who's mastered it Zuzu?" Skip asks his daughter.

"I'm… not sure." She says, looking uncertain. She glances at Yuya, who looks back at her. Zuzu then gasps, looking like she saw a ghost.

"Uh, you cool?" Yuya asks after a moment. Ash looks at her in concern and Pikachu looks confused.

Zuzu then gave an uneasy smile. "Yeah, don't mind me." She says, sitting down.

Yusei, Jaden and Yuma appeared behind Ash. " **Man, she seems really on edge."** Jaden notes.

" **Probably has something to do with what happened last night."** Yusei states.

" **Yeah, I mean she's asking about Xyz summoning and she looked as if she saw a ghost when she saw Yuya."** Yuma adds.

" _Yeah, she looks really troubled over all of this. Maybe I can-"_ Ash starts saying telepathically before a loud voice interrupted him.

"How dare you!" A familiar voice shouted, causing everyone to look at the door. "You made the Gong angry! Now things get ugly!" It continued.

"What now?" Yuya asks, standing up.

"That sounded like Gong." Ash says, following Yuya's lead.

Everyone, except Pikachu, who was told to stay in the room by Ash, quickly ran outside, Yuya, Skip and Ash in the lead. As they ran through the front door, they saw the familiar Superheavy Samurai duelist. "What's the big brew ha ha?" Skip asks as they approached.

Gong turns to them. "Something's brewing. But it's no ha ha matter. Gong was working out, doing duel sprints, when he saw some suspicious characters loitering on your campus, and confronted them." He explains before turning back to the 3 in front of him. "They're accusing Yuya of hurting their pal Sylvio in a duel." Gong reveals, shocking them.

"What!?" Ash asks in disbelief.

"Yuya!?" Skip adds.

"Me-ya!?" Yuya also adds.

"Don't lie, you totally know it was you." Goon 1 said.

"Yeah that's right, we saw you with our very own eyes." Goon 2 states.

"We sure did, and she did too." Goon 3 adds, but what he said confused them.

"Wait, she who?" Gong voices their confusion.

"One of Yuya's good friends. Right, Zuzu?" Goon 3 says, pointing.

Yuya, Gong and Ash looked shock before they turned to Zuzu, who was in front of the elevator, the younger members of You Show behind her. Then, as if to annoy them, the goons spoke in unison. "Come on. It's true. Don't deny it Zuzu." They said, getting her to take a step back.

Gong approached her. "They're crazy Zuzu, right? They're making this all up?" He asks, looking for confirmation.

"Or are they?" Skip says.

"Making what up?" Goon 1 asked.

"That Zuzu was there. And saw everything that happened." Goon 2 says, before they all pointed at Yuya. "Yuya you're so through."

Yuya gasps. "No he's not!" Tate exclaimed as he, Ally and Fredrick stepped in front of him, Sora standing to the side. "Yuya would never hurt someone like you say." Tate continues.

"It was Sylvio who wanted to hurt Yuya. And Zuzu only confronted him because she wanted to protect Yuya." Ally says.

"Hold on there!" Skip calls out, drawing everyone's attention. "You're saying that Zuzu confronted Sylvio!?" He asks.

"Yeah." Ally confirms.

"So then… that means… the true culprit is Zuzu!" Skip cries out.

"No!" The three kids exclaim.

The goons looked exasperated. "If this guy's the teacher… I feel bad for the students." Goon 1 said.

"Like we said, Yuya's the guilty one." Goon 2 repeated the accusation.

"And now poor Sylvio, is hold in the hospital." Goon 3 says, looking sad.

Yuya and Zuzu gasped. "For real!?" Yuya asks.

"Oh no!" Zuzu exclaims.

"And they say, he may never duel again. Poor bedridden Sylvio." Goon 3 states.

"How do you sleep at night Yuya!?" Goon 1 asks in an accusatory tone.

"With pillows mostly." Yuya replies, not understanding the question. He then turn towards Zuzu, and approaches her. "Zuzu, why don't you say something? You were there, you know I didn't hurt Sylvio." He says to her.

"Yeah, I was there Yuya." Zuzu replies looking to the ground in uncertainty.

Yuya's eyes then widen like he remembered something. "Hold on! Are you saying I could do this Zuzu!?" He asks, looking a little hurt his childhood friend would think that.

"No I-" She tries to deny, before falling silent and looking down.

Ash looked at Zuzu in concern. "Zuzu." He mutters.

"And there you have it. Your own friend won't even defend you. And now you'll pay." Goon 1 says.

"Pay!? He'll pay how!?" Skip asks, before they heard sirens in the distance. He turns to Yuya. "Maybe you can just pay'em with loose change! Come on everyone empty out your pockets now!" He exclaims, making everyone look at him in exasperation.

"Perhaps I can be of some assistance." A female voice said, making everyone in You Show to look where it came from. They saw a dark red haired woman in a red dress step out of a white limousine.

"I know you, you're Henrietta Akaba!" Skip says.

"Yes, Chairwoman of the Leo Institute of Dueling. Why don't we all have a little talk?" The woman, Henrietta, asks, a thin smile on her face.

The You Show gang and Gong went into the school's lounge with Henrietta. "Thank you for having me." She says, sitting on a couch with Skip sitting in the adjacent couch, the teens and kids standing around the room.

"It's our pleasure." Skip replies.

"I only wish it was under better circumstances, but I'm afraid we must deal with the facts, and the facts are that Yuya has created quite a rous. And now we must figure out a way to make things right." Henrietta states.

Skip looks thoughtful before looking at Yuya. "For the last time, did you do this?" He asks.

Yuya spreads his arms wide in exasperation. "No, no, no. Why doesn't anyone here believe me?" He asks, looking upset.

"Not so fast there, Yuya. Gong does. Now who is with me? Come on, speak up." Gong says, looking for other supporters.

"We are all with you." Fredrick says, speaking for the young trio of You Show.

"I have Yuya's back, all the way. No way he would do something like that." Ash says.

Gong nods at the four before looking at Zuzu. "And you?" He asks. Zuzu looks surprised before looking down.

She then looks to Yuya. "Yuya!" She says, getting his attention. "I know what my eyes saw on that day. But sometimes look can deceive. I… I…" She starts trailing off, not knowing what to say.

"It's ok Zuzu, just… just say what's in your heart then." Yuya tells Zuzu, surprising her.

She then smiled. "My heart… my heart says you're innocent." Zuzu states, putting a hand on her chest, making everyone supporting Yuya to smile.

"How sweet, but that changes nothing. Because I have three witnesses that say Yuya is guilty." Henrietta states, before she closed her eyes. "So, unless you want me to get the authorities involved in this." She opens her eyes, with a look that says 'listen carefully'. "I strongly suggest that you listen to my following proposal and listen good. As you know, I am the Chairwoman of the Leo Institute, the top duel school in the whole world." She says.

"So what's that have to do with Yuya?" Skip inquired.

"Yuya made a fool of our student!" Henrietta says fiercely, making everyone look taken aback. "This is now about honor. Honor that we have all lost. But that will soon be restored. By way of our students battling in a duel." She continues looking more intimidating.

"Is it hot in here or is it just me?" Skip asks, looking scared. Yuya and Zuzu looked scared while Sora smiled and Ash looked determined.

Henrietta then sat back down, a small smile playing her face. "If your school wins, then I'll forget about the Yuya incident. But, if we win the duel, then effective immediately the Leo Institute will take over the You Show Duel School." She declares, shocking all of You Show.

"What!?" Ash asks in shock.

"Take over!?" Yuya gasps.

"No way!" Zuzu says in disbelief.

"How's taking it over restore honor!? This seems pretty fishy if ya ask Gong!" Gong states.

"Yes, I agree. Especially since I know how the Leo Institute has been aggressively expanding across the globe." Skip agreed. "You've been taking over duel schools left and right. And not always in the nicest ways.. Henrietta smiles at that. "Tell me, did you set this all up, simply to take our school?" He questions.

"No I did not." Henrietta denies flatly. "But I happen to be an opportunist, so when I see an opportunity, such as this, I can't resist. You see, there are three ultimate summoning methods. Fusion, Synchro, and of course Xyz. But it's come to my attention, that there is now a fourth method, Pendulum. And though I don't know why or how, you're the only school around that seems to have any kind of connection to it." Skip looks down, a growl emanating from his throat, getting Ash, Yuya and Zuzu to look at him as Henrietta continues. "And with all due respect, the potential of Pendulum summoning is wasted here. However, with the technological resources of the Leo Corporation, it would positively flourish. Why there's no telling of all the new monsters or duel maneuvers that could come of it. The possibilities are endless. Come now, doesn't that excite you?" She asks the kids.

"Yeah, but the only way to Pendulum summon is with Yuya's or Ash's Pendulum cards." Tate states.

"So it would seem little one, but why don't you just let me worry about that. I'm certain that I will be able to figure out some sort of solution." Henrietta says. Her eyes then gained a certain glint in them which Ash noticed, especially when she looked at him and Yuya.

"You treat dueling like it's business! But here, we believe it's all about show business!" Yuya says, gripping his pendulum necklace. "Don't you see? That's when dueling is at it's most powerful. When it's used to make people happy. Not when it's used to push people around in order to make some big shot school even bigger! But if you really feel like your school has lost it's rep somehow, and the only way you can get it back is by way of a duel, then that's fine. That duel is gonna have to be through me." He finishes his speech, which had the You Show gang smiling at him and Henrietta frowning.

Gong pats Yuya's shoulder. "Atta boy Yuya. Gong totally feels the exact same way as you do. And because he does, Gong's volunteering to face off in a match as well." He declares, but was shot down by Sora, who jumped down from his seat on the counter.

"You can't duel, we'd lose for sure." What he said causes Gong's jaw to drop and become pale as a ghost. "What I mean is, we'd be disqualified because Gong doesn't go to You Show, and she said students have to duel. So forget the big guy back there, if we're talking multiple duels, talk to me." Sora finishes.

Gong then became red in the face with anger at what Sora said. "Wait! Did you say forget about Gong!? That's totally unacceptable! Gong wants to duel, Gong needs to duel!" He rages at the little sweet sucking fiend.

"It seems your students have agreed to my terms, what say you?" Henrietta asks Skip, who looks her in the eyes with a determined glint in them.

"What I say Madame Chairwoman," He starts as the rest of You Show and Gong stands behind him with Ash, Sora, Yuya and Zuzu to his right and Gong, Ally, Fredrick and Tate to his left, all of them sharing his determination. "Is you have a deal." He finishes.

"Let's Duel!" They exclaimed in unison.

A little while after that, the You Show Gang decided on who was gonna be the 3 that duels and it was decided that Yuya, Zuzu and Sora were gonna be the ones that duels. Those 3 and Skip were in the arena, Henrietta and her 3 chosen students, two boys and a girl standing across from them. One of the boys is slim and tall with purple hair that has a gold pin in the shape of the Big Dipper asterism, and blue eyes. He wears a zip-up blue and purple jacket over a white long-sleeved shirt, with white pants, olive-colored shoes, and a loose blue belt. His LID badge is pinned on the right side of his jacket. He also has a frame with a star underneath his hairline.

The girl has a dark skin tone, shoulder-length black hair and red eyes. She wears a small blue shirt with her LID badge pinned on it over a cream one-piece long-sleeved shirt and shorts combination with black skin-tight shorts underneath ending above the knee, and blue boots. She carries her Duel Disk in a brown holster resembling that for a firearm.

The other boy is a slightly below-average height teen with long spiky brown hair and amber eyes. His canines appear to be longer than normal and often stick out of his mouth. Kit wears a dark blue long-sleeved shirt and pants under a tan jacket with an orange interior (with his LID badge pinned on the collar) and the sleeves torn off, brown socks, and burnt-orange and grey shoes. He also carries a wooden katana.

"So that we're all in agreement. We will have 3 seperate matches between 3 students from my school and 3 from your's. Now then, who's first?" Henrietta asks.

"Right here!" Sora tried to volunteer, raising his hand, but Yuya stepped up.

"No, me!" He declares.

"A wise choice. Starting with your strongest duelist first. Afterall, if you blow out in your first match it'll be demoralizing, save the weak for last." Henrietta mocked.

"Who are you calling weak!?" Sora asks, insulted and cheeks puffed out. "Let's arm wrestle, right now, you and me!"

Zuzu then comes up and pats his head, mostly to prevent him from causing a bigger scene, with a sheepish smile on her face. "Keep it together." She says.

"Although, I highly doubt that will matter much whoever duels first. You see the students I've brought over from the Leo Institute are at the top of their class. And each one of them specializes in a unique style of play. The one facing Yuya, is Dipper." The purple boy stepped up, indicating he was Dipper.

"That's my name, and don't you dare forget it. Or you'll pay." He says arrogantly.

"We'll pay how?" Zuzu asks nervously.

Tate was on his Duel Disk, finding anything he can on Dipper, the rest of You Show around him. What he found surprised them.

"No way, this guy is practically a pro!" Ally gasps.

"Yeah, it says here he's already met the requirements to enter this year's championship!" Fredrick says.

"Not just met them Fredrick, his record is off the charts!" Ally says. This causes them to look at Yuya in concern.

Skip then steps up from behind Yuya. "When you're getting ready for battle Yuya, there's just one way to go." They looked at each other. "And that's with a battle cry. Ready? Let's go!" With that, they both gave out a battle cry.

After that, everyone except Dipper and Yuya left the arena, with Skip going to the control room, and the rest in the viewing area. The You Show gang looked on in concern for Yuya while the ones of LID just look on calmly. "Enjoy this while it lasts, because I doubt it will last for long. Now shall we start?" Henrietta asks.

"Oh yeah! And we're starting with a bang! Know why? Because we are blasting into outer space!" Skip yells, before pressing a button. "I activate the Action Field Spell: Cosmic Sanctuary!" The field changed into outer space with old pillars and ruins appearing all around the two duelists.

Dipper looked shocked before bursting out laughing. "You fool! Did you not realize that space is my special style of play?" He asks smugly.

"Say what!?" Skip shrieked in shock.

"His name's Dipper, as in Big Dipper, he did warn you not to forget." Sora deadpans, this causes Skip to scream in disbelief and become pale as a ghost.

The two duelist's activate their disks, the blades popping out. "Here we go. It's showtime." Yuya said. "And time for me to represent You Show School with my best. Cause the stakes are high, my school's on the line."

"The Action Duel is set and both the duelists are too!" Ally states.

"Then what are we waiting for!? Let's get this going!" Fredrick adds.

"Right! Do the honors Ally!" Tate says.

"OK! Yuya, Dipper, without further ado…" Ally starts.

"It is time to…" Tate and Fredrick adds.

"DUEL!" Yuya and Dipper finishes in unison, commencing the duel.

During the first turn, Dipper managed to Xyz summon his Constellar Pleiades thanks to his Kaus raising it's and Algiedi's level to 5. When it was Yuya's turn he set Stargazer and Timegazer in his Pendulum zones, allowing him to summon Performapal Sword Fish and Odd Eyes Pendulum Dragon. After activating Sword Fish's effect, he tried attacking Pleiades with Odd Eyes, but Dipper used his monster's effect to return Odd Eyes to Yuya's hand. He then tried going for Action Cards, but got blocked by Pleiades each time, so he settled for a face down and let Dipper have his turn. The only thing he did was attack Sword Fish with Pleiades, lowering Yuya's LP to 2100, and set a card face down. Back to Yuya, he Pendulum summoned Odd Eyes back and Performapal Turn Toad as well. He hopped on Odd Eyes and used his dragon's speed to try to get an Action Card on top of a ruin. Throughout this all, Yuya wasn't duelling in his usual Dueltainer style, which was limiting him of his options. Just as Yuya was gonna get the card, Dipper used Pleiades' effect to return Odd Eyes to his hand, making Yuya slide down the roof. He activated his trap, Performapal Revival, to bring back his Sword Fish back in DEF mode, which saved him from falling off the roof. He got the Action Card, but it got destroyed by Dipper's own, after that he ended his turn. On Dipper's turn, he summoned Constellar Sombre, using it's ability to banish one Constellar monster and add Kaus to his hand and summon it. He used it's ability again and Xyz summon another Pleiades. He then used the Pleiades with no Overlay Units in order to Xyz summon Constellar Ptolemy M7. Yuya then ran to another Action Card location with his monsters, but Dipper returned Turn Toad to his hand, but he kept moving. When Dipper attacked Sword Fish, it caused the structure Yuya was in to start collapsing. Everyone of You Show became concerned when it did collapsed, but became relieved when Yuya was revealed still standing with only a few scratches, and an Action Card in hand. As Dipper ordered M7 to attack, Yuya activated his Action Card, Twinkle Comet, which damaged Dipper by 500 points and lowered M7's ATK by 1000, making Yuya only have 400 LP left. Dipper then activated Constellar Tempest, which halved Yuya's LP to 200, then ended his turn. As his turn started, the others noticed Yuya back to dueling like he used to. He summoned Performapal Trampolynx, using it's ability to return Stargazer to his hand, and replacing it with Turn Toad. He then Pendulum summoned his Stargazer Magician and Odd Eyes Pendulum Dragon. Dipper tried returning Odd Eyes to Yuya's hand, but Stargazer brought him back. Using Turn Toad's Pendulum Effect, Yuya switched Stargazer's DEF and ATK points. Then, Yuya activated Magical Star Illusion, which raised monsters with levels ATK points by 100 times the amount of levels there are, the total being 1400. But because Xyz monsters have ranks, Dipper's monsters gained no points. With that, Yuya had his Odd Eyes and Stargazer attack Dipper's monsters while Trampolynx attacked Dipper directly, sending him into the ceiling, resulting in Yuya's win.

As the duel came to a close, Ash took notice of movement from the corner of his eye. When he looked, he saw a figure in a hoodie behind a corner. The figure must've noticed his gaze because it moved behind the corner. Narrowing his eyes, Ash quickly followed the figure. The only one to notice his departure was Henrietta, who smirked. ' _It seems Declan has made his move, now to see whether this Ketchum boy is friend or foe.'_ She thought, remembering what he has planned for Ash.

 _Flashback_

 _In the LID HQ, Declan Akaba had just briefed his mother on the incidents that occurred, such as the birth of Pendulum Summoning and the attack on Sylvio Sawatari. But now he was telling her a very different matter. "Along with these incidents, a strange anomaly happened a few days ago." He says._

" _Strange anomaly?" Henrietta asks._

" _Yes, we picked on a strange energy signature around the park, but it wasn't from a summoning, nor dimensional teleportation." Declan reveals._

" _Energy that is not from summoning or dimensional transportation?" Henrietta asks shocked._

 _Declan nods. "Yes. And a few hours after we detected it, we detected a powerful summoning. Pendulum summoning to be precise, but it wasn't Yuya Sakaki." He states._

" _But he's the only one who has Pendulum cards." Henrietta said._

" _Not anymore." As he said that, Ash's picture appeared on the screen behind him, his Pikachu, Bayleef, and Greninja cards appearing next to him. "His name is Ash Ketchum, the second Pendulum user. He only appeared a few hours after we detected that strange energy."_

" _You think he was the cause of the anomaly?" Henrietta asks._

" _Possibly. Along with that he has a two win streak, one of them being against Yuya Sakaki." He says, shocking Henrietta._

" _So he was able to beat the founder of Pendulum summoning?"_

" _Yes. Which is why I would like to test him, see how strong he is and what his motives are." Declan states, a glint in his eye._

 _Flashback end_

With Ash, he followed the hooded Declan to a nearby LID Duel Field, both of them standing at the center of it. "Alright, who are you and why were sneaking around my school? And why did you bring me here?" Ash asks, pointing at Declan.

Declan had his back turned to him. He lowered his hood before turning around, revealing himself. "My name is Declan Akaba, and I am the president of the Leo Corporation." He introduces himself, shocking Ash.

"You're the president!?" He asks in surprise, getting a nod in return. Ash shakes off his shock and rubs his head sheepishly. "Sorry about how I acted just now."

"It is alright, Ash Ketchum." Declan dismisses the apology, adjusting his red framed spectacles, surprising Ash.

"How did you-?"

"There is a Duel Record of you."

"Oh." Ash frowns. "Why did you bring me here?" He repeats his question.

Declan merely adjusted his spectacles again. "As you know by now, Yuya Sakaki is the first one to ever use Pendulum Summoning. As such, I have been keeping an eye on him and study the method closely. My goal is to recreate it so that every Duelist can also use it." He explains.

"What does that have to do with me?"

"But before it could happen, you came and used different Pendulum cards, as well as using a deck that has never been seen before. What I'm basically saying is, you peaked my interest as much as Yuya did."

"Uh, thank you?" Ash asks, not sure if that was a compliment. He then looked more serious. "But that still doesn't explain why you were at my school." He states.

"I was watching the duel against Yuya and Dipper."

"You watched the duel? Why?"

"Yes I did watch the duel. The reason as to why I did, was because I found Yuya's Pendulum Summoning… intriguing."

"Then why are we here?" Ash asks with a raised eyebrow.

Declan adjusted his spectacles once more. "So that I can see your own Pendulum Summoning." He simply states.

"So you want to duel?" Ash asks, raising his duel disk.

"Sorry to disappoint you, but I'm not the one you're dueling. You're opponent… is her." Declan states, gesturing to the other tunnel of the ring. Emerging from the tunnel was a dark haired teenage girl wearing a gothic lolita outfit, a purple Duel Disk strapped to her left arm, and an LID pin on her chest.

"Hello, my name is Sierra, and I'm an elite of LID. And it's an honor to meet you, Mr. Ketchum. The president has taken a keen interest in you and your Pendulum Summoning." The girl greets, bowing politely.

Ash raises an eyebrow. "Uh nice to meet you too, but you can just call me Ash." He greets back. He then turns to Declan. "Why-"

"I have no desire to face Pendulum summoning yet. I shall watch and observe it carefully and closely. And Sierra is a perfect opponent for you, given her dueling style." Declan states.

Sierra nods as Declan goes to the sidelines. "Very well, shall we begin?" She asks, activating her Duel Disk, a blue blade popping out. Ash nods and activates his own Duel Disk. "I shall now activate the Action Field… Chamber of Strings." Sierra declares, tapping her disk screen. The arena then changed into a dungeon chamber with strings every where, strings holding up platforms, making bridges, etc. Ash looked around.

"Kind of creepy." He comments, his 3 spirit partners appearing next to him.

" **You said it."** Yuma nods in agreement.

" **Stay focus Ash."** Yusei tells the young trainer.

" **Yeah, you gotta win this duel fast if you wanna get back."** Jaden reminds him.

Ash nods. " _Don't worry, I won't let you guys or You Show Duel School down."_ He says, telepathically. The spirits went back into his soul. Ash then stared at Sierra, who was on a platform across from him.

"I hope you're ready, Mr. Ketchum, because I will not be holding back!" Sierra declares.

"Funny I was just about to say the same thing, let's see how well you'll do against my Pendulum Summoning!" Ash says.

"I think I can pull a couple of strings to manage your defeat!"

"I'm not gonna let my school down!"

"LET'S DUEL!" Ash and Sierra yelled in unison.

 **(Ash LP: 4000 hand x5)**

 **(Sierra LP: 4000 hand x5)**

"I'll go first, and you'll get your wish sooner than expected." Ash states, before presenting 2 of his cards. "With the Scale 1 Pikachu, the Electric Mouse Pokemon and the Scale 8 Bayleef, the Wafting Aroma Pokemon, I set the Pendulum Scale, I'm making a comeback starting now!" Ash exclaims, slapping the 2 cards on the edges of the blade, the world 'PENDULUM' lighting up on the blade in rainbow colors. The 2 monsters rise in the glowing pillars, their respective numbers underneath them.

' _Here it comes.'_ Declan thought, looking on with narrow eyes.

"With the current set scale, I'm allowed to summon monsters that are levels 2 through 7 all at the same time! Swing far pendulum, carve the arc to victory! My monsters are ready to unite, and fight!" Ash calls out, swinging an arm upwards. A pendulum portal opened up and a lone light shot out. "I Pendulum Summon! The level 6, Pignite, the Flaming Boar Pokemon!" The light took form and dissipated, revealing a bipedal, pig-like Pokémon. Its chubby body is orange with brown bands around its shoulders, sides, belly, hands, and from the back of its head down its snout. Yellow bands encircle its wrists, and swirled yellow designs bulge from its chest. It has a red pig-like nose, pointed ears, and two pointed teeth that protrude from its lower jaw. Its hands have two claws each, while its feet have only a single nail. Its tail is curled with a tuft of fur at the tip. **(2100/1500 lvl: 6 scale: 2)**

Sierra looked in awe. "So this is Pendulum Summoning… impressive." She compliments.

Even Declan looked impressed. ' _This is his Pendulum Summoning. Astounding.'_ He thought.

Ash just smiles and rubs the tip of his nose with his finger. "Thanks. Now I'll set one card face down and end my turn." As a face down appeared in front of Ash before disappearing, he then proceeded to run on a bridge. **(Ash hand x1)**

"My turn then. I draw." Sierra drew her card. "I shall now activate the spell card Shaddoll Fusion." She declares.

"Fusion!?" Ash exclaims in shock.

"Yes, Fusion. Next to Julia I am the best student of LID's Fusion Course. I will now fuse my Shaddoll Beast and Giant Rat in my hand!" At this declaration, a beast like doll and literally a giant rat appeared behind her along with a fusion portal. Then the monsters glowed before going into the portal. "Beastly doll of magic, vermin of the earth, become one now to form the sting master of the earth! I Fusion Summon! El Shaddoll Shekhinaga!" A female being who has had large mechanical parts woven and attached to her, and she was positioned as if sitting in a chair, appeared on the field. **(2600/3000 lvl: 10)** "Now since my Shaddoll Beast was sent to the graveyard by a card effect, I get to draw a card." She drew. "Now my Shekhinaga shall attack your little pig!" As the doll was about to strike, Ash took action.

"I don't think so! I activate the trap Protect!" The trap flips up, a green barrier sprouting up and taking the hit for Pignite. "This stops an attack on a Pokemon monster once a turn." The trap then flips back down. "In addition, it flips itself back face down after it's use." The statement surprised Sierra and Declan, the latter not letting it show.

' _A trap that flips itself back face down? Impressive.'_ The spectacled president thought.

"Well then, I guess I'll just set a monster face down in DEF mode and a card face down and end my turn." Two cards appeared face down on her side of the field before one disappeared. **(Sierra hand x2)**

' _That was a close one, I need to figure out a way to bring that thing down soon, or else I'm in trouble. I hope the others are doing ok.'_ Ash thought to himself.

 **(Back at You Show)**

The arena was currently a corridor full of gems and mirror pillars, carpeted with a pink rug. Zuzu was lying on the ground, defeated. Julia Krystal, the Fusion user of LID, was standing in front of her defeated form, an image of her floating above her with the word 'WIN' under it, showing who was the victor of this round. This shocked the You Show students, Gong, and Skip. The arena then returned to normal since the duel was over.

Yuya then ran into the arena to check on Zuzu. He was hovering over her as she opened her eyes. "Zuzu!" He calls in concern. She then pushed herself up in a sitting position. "I'm sorry about your duel. Are you ok?" He says. She stands up muttering a confirmation. "I thought-" He was cut off as Zuzu stumbled and fell towards him and landed on his chest. "Hey, you sure you're ok?" He asks.

' _I don't know what's going.'_ Zuzu thinks, holding onto Yuya ' _I'm so confused right now. My heart's telling me that Yuya wasn't the one that duled Sylvio. But I know what I saw! Maybe my eyes were playing tricks on me, like when I saw that card in the reflection.'_

Everything was silent for a moment before Julia spoke up with an accomplished smirk on her face. "Is this gonna be over anytime soon?" She asks, snapping Zuzu out of her thoughts. She looks at her before looking back at Yuya, taking a step back. She then blushed, realizing what she did, before shoving Yuya down to the ground.

Yuya gets back up, rubbing his back. "What'd you do that for?" He asks incredulously.

Zuzu then bows her head in apology. "I'm so sorry." She apologizes.

"Well I forgive you, but my back's not so sure." Yuya groans.

Zuzu looks back up. "I'm sorry about that duel too. I know how important it was, and I lost." She says looking crestfallen.

Yuya smiles and puts a hand on her shoulder. "Hey, lighten up Zuzu. We just gotta win the next one." He said, trying to cheer her up.

"Yeah." Zuzu nods, a smile on her face.

"Oh is that all you have to do." A voice says, surprising them. "That should be pretty impossible." They turned to the door, seeing it was the Kendo boy speaking.

"Who are you?" Yuya asks.

"The name's Kit Blade, and I'm the slickest Synchro Summoner you'll ever meet. Now which one of you do I get to beat?" the boy, Kit, asks smugly.

Before the duel could go underway, they entered the viewing area for a little break. Yuya looked around but then sighed when he saw that Ash still wasn't around. "Ash still hasn't come back yet?" He asks.

Gong, Sora and the kids shook their heads. "Nope, and Gong admits he's getting worried for how long he's been gone for." Gong says.

"We went to the classroom to see if he was with Pikachu, but he wasn't there either." Ally sadly states, referring to her, Tate and Fredrick.

"I hope he's ok." Yuya states, before they went on to discussing the next duel.

 **(Back with Ash)**

"It's my turn now, I draw!" Ash declares, drawing his card. He looks at it and smiles, playing it. "I play the Spell card Ultra Ball!" A giant version of an Ultra Ball appears beside him. "Thanks to this card, I'm allowed to summon a monster from my hand or deck so long as it's level 7 through 9!" A card pops out from his deck and he grabs it. "I'm summoning the level 7 Sceptile, the Forest King Pokemon!" The Ultra Ball opened up and a swirl of leaves came out of it. The leaves soon dispersed revealing a reptilian, bipedal Pokémon. Its neck is somewhat long, and it has two crests on its head. It has semicircular, yellow eyes with red rims. Its lower jaw and a belt-like band across its waist are also red. Along its back, it has two lines running down the middle and two rows of yellow nodules that are described as seeds. Its tail is shaped similar to that of a palm tree's branch. Both of its long arms have two sharp, elongated leaves and three claws. **(2800/1700 lvl: 7 scale: 3)** "Now Sceptile is gonna bring down your Shekhinaga! Leaf Blade!" Sceptile charges at the monster, the leaves on it's arms glow and sharpen.

Sierra grabs an Action Card. "I activate the Action Spell: Evasion to negate your attack!" She declares, Shekhinaga dodging the attack.

But Ash countered it. "When Sceptile battles, he gets to attack twice." At this declaration, Sceptile turned around in the air and dived at Shekhinaga.

"I activate my Trap, Waboku! This trap prevents my monsters destruction and I take zero damage." The attack lands but the monster was unharmed.

"Then I'll attack your face down monster with Pignite! Fire Pledge, let's go!" Pignite slammed it's knee on the ground, pillars of fire sprouting up and heading towards the face down monster. "When Pignite battles, it ATK points goes up by 300 points." **(2100+300=2400)** The monster flips up, showing it was Shaddoll Dragon. The monster then roared, dispersing the flames. Pignite then glowed before dispersing in a show of sparkles, shocking Ash. "What the-!?" Ash started.

"When Shaddoll Dragon is flipped face up, it returns a card to your hand." Sierra states in matter of factly tone.

Ash grits his teeth. "Well, I can still Pendulum Summon him back! Swing again Pendulum, carve the arc to victory! My monsters are ready to unite, and fight!" The pendulum portal opened up again and a light shot out. "Come back from my hand! Pignite, the Flaming Boar Pokemon!" Pignite came back out but in DEF mode this time. "I end my turn!" **(Ash hand x1)**

"My turn now!" Sierra draws her card, and activates it. "I activate the Spell Graceful Charity. Now I get to draw 3 cards, so long as I discard 2." She draws three cards, puts two of them in her hand before grabbing another card in her hand and discards that and the other card. "The cards I discarded were Shaddoll Hedgehog and Shaddoll Hound. Hedgehog let's me add another Shaddoll monster to my hand and Hound switches your Sceptile to DEF mode." Sceptile glows blue, indicating DEF mode. "I now activate the Spell, Mind Control! This card let's me take control of one of your monsters!" What she said, shocked Ash. "I'll take control of your Pignite!" Strings came out from the card and attached to Pignite, pulling him over to Sierra's field.

"Pignite, no!" Ash called out.

"I shall now use another Shaddoll Fusion. This time I will fuse my Shaddoll Dragon with your Pignite!" A fusion portal appeared and Shaddoll Dragon and Pignite went in it. "Draconic doll, boar of flame, come together as one and become the string master of flames! I Fusion Summon! El Shaddoll Grysta!" A knight in red armor, and whose head was a one-horned helm that releases numerous demonic heads, from their back, numerous tendrils of red energy pouring out appeared on the field. **(2450/1950 lvl: 7)** "Now my Dragon's effect destroys your Protect." Protect flips up before exploding.

"Since Pignite was a Pendulum monster, he goes to my Extra Deck instead of my graveyard." Ash says as he put Pignite in his Extra Deck.

"I activate the Spell, Star Blast! Now, for every 500 LP I pay, I can lower a monster's level by 1. Either on my field, or in my hand. I shall pay 500 to reduce the Shaddoll Beast in my hand by 1, making it a level 4, allowing me to summon it!" The beastly doll appeared on the field. **(Sierra LP: 4000-500=3500) (2200/1700 lvl: 4)** "I shall attack your Sceptile with Grysta!" Grysta shot at Sceptile with a reeled back fist and punching Sceptile, destroying him. "Now Shekhinaga will attack you directly!" As Ash was running, Shekhinaga lowered one of it's cannons and shot it at him. The shot exploded behind him sending him flying. As he landed, he skidded to the edge of the platform he was on. **(Ash LP: 4000-2600=1400)** Ash opened his eyes, they widened upon seeing an Action Card in a crack on the side of the platform. "My Beast shall finish you!"

' _Well I guess my interest was misplaced.'_ Declan thought, closing his eyes as Shaddoll Beast charged.

Snatching the Action Card, Ash went into a kneeling position and played it. "I activate the Action Spell: Miracle! This prevents a monster's destruction and halves the battle damage!"

"But wait, you don't have a monster on your field." Sierra says, confused.

"Yeah I know! But I never said I had to use it on my monsters now did I? I'm using it on Shaddoll Beast!" What he declared, shocked not only Sierra, but Declan as well.

"His opponent's monster!?" Declan asked in shock.

Beast slashed at Ash as he crossed his arms. The force of the attack threw Ash to another platform, landing near the edge. **(Ash LP: 1400-1100=300)** Sierra frowned. "I end my turn." She declares. **(Sierra hand x0)**

Ash gets up. "My turn. I draw." He pants out, drawing.

"Give up, you're barely hanging on and you have no monsters, and even if you bring those 2 monsters back, I would still have LP. Your school will become property of LID, regardless of what you do. Please just do yourself a favor and stop this now." Sierra says.

"No way." Ash replies fiercely, surprising Sierra and making Declan raise an eyebrow. He looks up at Sierra, his eyes showing his ironclad determination. "I won't stop fighting until the last card is drawn. My friends have done so much for me, Yuya, Zuzu, Gong, Sora, Ally, Tate, Fredrick, Skip. I will not repay them just by giving up, I'll keep on fighting until my friends and school are safe from you LID jerks!" Ash states, pointing at her.

" **You tell them Ash!"** Ash hears. Turning around, he sees it was Yuma, who came out of his soul, that spoke. " **No matter what, if your friends are in danger, you should do everything in your power to fight for them! As long as you keep on feeling the flow, nothing will stop you from high fiving the sky!"** Yuma states, pumping his arm in excitement.

Ash smiles and nods. " _Right! Let's do this together!"_ Ash says telepathically. Suddenly, Ash felt a small surge of power throughout his body, causing his eyes to widen. ' _What was that?'_ He thought. Then he noticed an Extra Deck notice on his duel screen. Curiously, he tapped on his Extra Deck list. It opened up, and his eyes widen in surprise. ' _This wasn't there before. Did Yuma…?'_ Ash thought, glancing at Yuma, who gave him a grin and thumbs up. Smiling back, Ash turned his attention back to Sierra, before continuing to run around the field. "I activate the Spell, Pot of Greed! This allows me to draw two more cards!" He drew and looks at them, before playing one of them. "Now I activate my own Graceful Charity! Like you, I can draw 3 cards so long as I discard 2!" He drew 3 and discarded 2 of them. But then he grabbed an Action Card. "I activate the Action Spell: Greed Recovery! If I discarded cards this turn, I can get those cards back!" The cards he discarded popped out from his graveyard, which he grabbed. He looked at his hand, smiling as a plan came to mind. Turning to Sierra, he started his plan, by giving it a good introduction. Suddenly, the lights in the arena dimmed, confusing Sierra while Declan looked interested. A spotlight then shown on Ash, his limbs spread wide. "Ladies and Gentlemen, it's showtime!" He exclaims, giving a dueltainer introduction. "As you can see, my opponent managed to put me in quite the bind, but watch as me and my monsters turn this duel around!" Grabbing one of his cards, he played it. "For my first act, I'll activate Pendulum Vanish Call! Now by banishing 2 Pendulum monsters from my Extra Deck, I can summon the monsters in my Pendulum Scales!" As Sceptile and Pignite was banished from the Extra Deck, Pikachu **(1200/900 lvl: 4 scale: 1)** and Bayleef **(1900/1100 lvl: 4 scale: 8)** appeared on the field. "For act two, I activate another Spell, DNA Deception! By declaring a monster type, my monsters will become that typing for this turn, and I choose Warrior!" Pikachu and Bayleef glowed before armor appeared over them, indicating their changed typing.

"I still don't see how your monsters are supposed to beat mine, when mine are clearly stronger!" Sierra points out.

"They are, but they aren't gonna fight your monsters. Instead, they'll be helping bring out the main star of this show." What he said, confused both Sierra and Declan. Seeing the confusion, he continued. "As you can see," he gestured to Pikachu, "Pikachu is level 4," then to Bayleef, "Bayleef is also level 4." What he said, connected the dots to the student and president, both of whom's eyes widened. "And along with that, they are Warrior type. So, without further ado, I overlay my level 4 Bayleef and Pikachu as Warrior monsters, in order to build the Overlay Network!" As he declared that, Pikachu and Bayleef turned into yellow and green lights of energy before shooting into the sky.

"He can-!?" Sierra starts.

"Xyz Summon!?" Declan finishes, a little bit of his own shock showing.

The lights then went into an overlay network that appeared in front of Ash. "Pennant of Light, appear! The glorious Champion who slashes the darkness! I Xyz Summon! Appear, Rank 4! Heroic Challenger Excalibur!" He chanted. The red heroic knight appeared on Ash's field with 2 overlay units orbiting around it. **(2000/2000 Rank: 4)**

Sierra and Declan looked at the monster in shock. The latter then regained his composure, and adjusted his spectacles. ' _So not only can he Pendulum Summon, but also Xyz Summon. This was unexpected.'_

Sierra then regained her composure. "Though what you did was impressive, I'm afraid your monster is still too weak." She says.

Ash just smiled. "Not for long." He then grabbed another card and played it. "I activate the spell Magnum Shield and equip it onto Excalibur! Thanks to this card, Excalibur's DEF points are added to his ATK points!" The shield appeared in the knight's grasp. **(2000+2000=4000)** "Now I activate his special ability!" At this declaration, Excalibur slashed both of his overlay units. "By detaching all of his overlay units, his ATK points are doubled during battle!" **(4000*2=8000)**

"8000 ATK points!?" Sierra asked, shocked.

' _He not only performed an Xyz Summon, but also managed to raise his monster's to 8000 ATK points. He certainly is an interesting person.'_ Declan thought.

"Now I activate the Spell, Warrior's Brave Charge! This allows Excalibur to attack all of your monsters!" Sierra can only look in shock at the warrior in front of her, as it's sword gathered electricity in it. "Go, Excalibur! Take out her monsters with Shock Sword Slash!" Excalibur fired his attack, the beam separating into three as the three Shaddoll monsters were struck, the force of the combined explosions caused an impressive array of sparkles and Sierra to fly high before landing roughly. **(Sierra LP: 3500-16750=0000 LOSE)**

 **(Ash: WIN)**

"That's all she wrote!" Ash says, placing a hand on his chest and taking a bow, Excalibur following his lead, as the sparkles dissipated. The arena then changed back to normal, Excalibur going back to Ash's Extra Deck. ' _I can't believe that I used Xyz for the first time and won with it! So awesome!'_ He thought with a wide grin.

" **Way to go Ash!"** Jaden exclaims, appearing from his soul with Yusei and Yuma.

" **I gotta say, how you Xyz summoned Excalibur was pretty amazing, good job!"** Yusei praises.

" **Yeah, I knew you could do it, there was no doubt about it!"** Yuma cheers, pumping his arms up.

Ash smiles. " _Thanks you guys, I couldn't have done it without you, especially you, Yuma."_ He says, telepathically. Smiling, the 3 spirits went back into his soul. Turning around, Ash saw Sierra, sitting on her knees with her hands on her lap.

"I can't believe I lost, and to a new duelist nonetheless." Sierra mutters. Just then, a hand appeared in front of her. She looks up in surprise to see Ash holding his hand out, a carefree grin on his face.

"Hey that was an awesome duel back there. Hope we can face each other again sometime." Ash says.

Blushing upon seeing him up close, Sierra grabbed his hand, blushing harder upon contact. "T-thanks, you too." She stutters as she stands up. She then left quickly, not wanting him to see the blush.

Declan then walks up to Ash, his look being one of intrigue. ' _Pendulum and Xyz. If he also uses Synchro and Fusion, then he'd be quite the duelist.'_

"Did that duel give you what you needed?" Ash asks as Declan approached.

"Yes, that and more." Declan answered, adjusting his spectacles. "The main reason for your duel was so that I can analyze your Pendulum Summoning more closely, but your Xyz Summon took me by surprise."

"Is that a bad thing?"

"Merely unexpected. But now I know your full dueling capability." Declan pulled his hood up and walked out past Ash, who looked at him.

As Declan left, he didn't notice the smile on Ash's face. ' _Do you?'_ He thought as Yuma, Yusei and Jaden appeared behind him.

 **(One quick run to You Show later)**

After running all the way back to You Show, Ash ran into the observing area seeing the other You Show students watching the current duel in excitement. "Hey guys!" Ash pants out, catching his breathe.

They heard this and turned around, seeing Ash walk up to them. "Ash!" The three little kids exclaim in relief and happiness.

"Where've you been man?" Yuya asks.

Ash rubbed his head sheepishly. "Sorry, guys. I got challenged to a duel. What's happened?" Ash asks, seeing Gong was dueling.

"After Yuya's duel against that Dipper, I dueled their Fusion specialist, Julia Krystal." Zuzu says.

"But she got tricked by a mirror and lost." Sora adds.

"A mirror?" Ash asked.

"I don't wanna talk about it." Zuzu replies sadly. Ash patted her shoulder comfortingly, getting a smile from her.

Ash then looked at the duel. "Who's Gong facing?" He asked.

"LID's Synchro Summoner, Kit Blade." Yuya answers as everyone continued to watch the duel.

The two duelist's have been deflecting effect damage like it was a game of Tug a war. Gong then activated a monster effect from the graveyard which negated effect damage and destroyed the monsters on his and Kit's field and gave damage for the combined total of the destroyed monsters levels x100, resulting in a Draw. As the field returned to normal, Yuya and Ash ran out to Gong, who was lying on the floor.

"Gong!" Yuya calls out, worried for his best friend. "Are you ok!? Come on!" Ash and Yuya helped Gong sit up.

"I'm sorry." Gong apologizes, getting Ash and Yuya to look at him. "Gong's Heavy Strong style just wasn't enough to beat him."

"Maybe not, but he didn't beat you either." Yuya says, trying to cheer him up a bit. "And we all saw something super important: the power of a deck you believe in."

"Yuya's right, as long as you believe in your cards, any outcome is possible, even the weakest of cards can turn a duel around in one fell swoop." Ash continues. With that, Ash and Yuya helped Gong out of the arena.

As they were, Skip and Henrietta argued about the outcome, which resulted in Henrietta demanding a tie breaker between the 2 winning duelists, Yuya and Julia. Skip said that it was up to the duelists, if they wanted to. Yuya had his goggles down, but they were able to tell that he was ready to duel again. But before they could start…

"Wait." A voice calmly says, a voice that made Ash's eyes to widen in recognition. Out of the shadows, came Declan as he pulls his hood down. "I'll be the one to Duel." Yuya turned around and looked at him.

The stare down would've continued, had it not been for Ash stepping in between the two. "Ash?" Yuya asked in confusion.

Ash looked at him with a smile. "Don't worry Yuya, I'll take him on." Looking at Declan, Ash looked at him with a serious face. "I'll be the one to Duel you! And if I win, LID will leave You Show alone!" He declared, shocking everyone but Declan.

"Hey, you weren't a participant in this duel! So you can't just-" Kit started but got cut off.

"Be quiet!" Declan exclaimed, looking at Kit, who got scared at the president's gaze. Turning back to Ash, he nodded. "I accept. If you win, LID will leave You Show Duel School alone."

Ash nodded. "Alright." He says, looking more determined than ever before. "Let's get this started!"

 _To be continued…_

 **AN: Holy crap, this is the longest chapter I have ever written! Anyways, I apologize for how long this took to get out, I was busy with my finals! But I am now proud to say that finals are over and I can focus more of my time on this! I would like to thank Gundoru, for not only the suggestion of using the Shaddoll deck, but also for helping me plan out how the Duel went! I would highly recommend you read his story 'Taking Flight' because it is much more different than all the other Arc-V OC fanfics! As for Ash using Xyz first of the other 3 summonings, I just liked Xyz more than the other 2! Next chapter will be Ash vs Declan, Pokemon vs D/D/D! As always, only constructive criticism, no flames! Show support by either faving, following, reviewing, or all 3! That's about it, so I'll see you all next time in chapter 6, so until then, this is FFCM15, signing out!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Pokemon ARC-V: Bonds of Unity**

 **AN: Hello everybody and welcome to chapter 6 of Pokemon ARC-V: Bonds of Unity! I did wanted to get this out by the 4th but unfortunately we can't get what we want. Now, this chapter will hold the duel between Ash and Declan! Pokemon vs D/D/D! Who will win and who shall lose!? The answers will come to you now! So without further adieu, here's chapter 6 of Bonds of Unity!**

 **Disclaimer: As always I own nothing!**

Human speech- "Hey"

Human thought- ' _Hey'_

Spirit speech- " **Hey"**

Spirit thought- ' _ **Hey'**_

" _Telepathy"_

 _Flashback_

 **Monster/player status**

Chapter 6

In the observation room of You Show Duel School, everyone except Declan was shocked that Ash challenged the president of LID, although the students of You Show, Gong, and Skip didn't know that yet. Declan accepted the duel, the conditions being obvious to those present. If Ash wins, LID leaves You Show alone, but if Declan is victorious, LID takes over.

Yuya takes off his goggles and places them back on his forehead, in order to stare at Ash more clearly. "Why do you want to take my place Ash?" He asks his other worldly friend.

"Because it's only the right thing to do after I had left you guys without telling you. And I'll make sure to win it for you guys." Ash says, still keeping his determined stare on Declan.

"It's ok Ash, you don't have to make it up us." Zuzu reassures.

"But I want to!" Ash exclaims, surprising his friends. "I'm a part of this school too, remember? And I failed you guys by leaving without telling you, and I'm sorry. I'm gonna make it up to you guys by taking him on and giving it all I've got! I'll protect you guys and You Show Duel School until the very end!"

Everyone was surprised at the speech Ash gave, actually feeling the emotions in his voice, Declan included, but he made sure not to let it show. "Ash." Yuya mutters in awe. Unknowingly to all, the door that led to the classroom Pikachu was in was open, and he heard everything his trainer said. He smiled in pride, knowing that his trainer meant every word he said.

"Pikachu, Pikapi." He whispers encouragingly to Ash, even though he couldn't be heard. Also, unknowingly to all, except Ash, the trainer's spirit partners came out and listened to the speech, all three of them having smiles on their faces, knowing that they made the right choice as to who their host would be.

Henrietta, however, smirked. ' _Very noble, but also very foolish.'_ She thought.

Yuya then smiled and put a hand on Ash's shoulder, getting Ash to look at him. "We understand, and we have your back 100% of the way. Beat this guy for the school and my dad's dueling style."

"You can do it Ash!" Ally agrees.

"You won't lose!" Tate cheers.

"Yeah, after all you have Pendulum power!" Frederick followed up.

"The Gong will give will cheer you on all the way!" Gong exclaims, tearing up in happiness.

Sora gives a thumbs up, licking a lollipop.

"We all have faith in you!" Zuzu cheers.

"Yeah, you can do it! Kick his butt!" Yuya finishes all the cheers.

"You children are incredibly naive." Henrietta states, getting everyone of You Show (and Gong) to look at her. "Seriously, you're poor friend doesn't stand a chance against Declan." She continues smugly. This got Skip, still in the control room, to have a feeling of recognition.

"The time for talk is over, don't you agree?" Declan cuts in, still staring at Ash with his calculative gaze, which was returned by Ash's determined gaze. "Out on the dueling field, it's actions that count. Words mean nothing." Ash nods, and with that, the 2 duelists entered the field, taking their positions. They both stare at each other in tense silence. Ash had his fists clenched at his sides, and his teeth were gritting.

" **Don't worry Ash, we've got your back."** Yuma encourages, with a matching smile, as the three veteran duelists came back out. Ash looks at them.

" **Yeah, we'll help you protect You Show against these LID jerks."** Jaden adds with a grin.

" **Remember, not only do you have us for support, but your friends as well."** Yusei states with a small smile.

As if to prove Yusei's point, Ash heard Yuya's voice. "Hey Ash!" Ash looks over to the observation window. "Don't stress yourself out too much! Win or lose, you'll still be a hero! And don't forget, You Show teaches us to be Dueltainers! Where your greatest asset is your smile!"

"My smile?" Ash murmurs to himself. Then he smiles. "He's right, I can't let the pressure get to me. A Dueltainer's #1 priority is to not only make sure the crowd's having fun, but his opponent and himself too." He then stares at Declan. He then spreads his limbs wide "I hope you're all ready, because this is gonna be a duel that you no one will forget!" As he declares this, the You Show Gang and Gong smiled in anticipation. He then lowers his Dueltainer stance and looks at Declan. "Now all that's left is to choose an Action Field."

"Your school, your choice." Declan says impassively.

Ash nods before looking up to the control room window. "Pick a good one Principle Boyle!" He calls out.

Skip nods, but Ash doesn't see his concern face. ' _Ash is leaving it up to me. I honestly think he doesn't understand what he's up against. Declan's won every dueling prize out there. He's a pro. Ash is gonna need every advantage he can get. And since Declan says he doesn't care, I'm free to choose a field that suits Ash's talents to a T.'_ Skip thought. He thinks about which field to choose. Aloud, he declares, "Get ready to duel under the big top! I activate the Action Field Spell, Acrobatic Circus!" The arena then changes to a circus area with your typical poles, swings, etc. The You Show gang looks at it in awe.

" **Check out the super duper cool circus!"** Yuma exclaims with a grin.

" **You know what to do Ash."** Yusei says.

" **Yeah, duel with everything you got!"** Jaden cheers.

Ash nods to them discreetly. " _Don't worry guys, I will. And also… thanks, for reminding me what to duel for."_ He tells them telepathically. The 3 smiled before going back into his soul. Ash then activates his Duel Disk, Declan following suit.

"The Leo Institute has chosen it's champion!" Zuzu starts.

"Declan is set to take on You Show's upbringing student!" Tate adds.

"The amazing Ash Ketchum!" Fredrick follows.

"You're about to witness the ultimate school duel!" Ally says.

"So get ready to Action…" All 4 started as the Action Cards dispersed.

"DUEL!" Ash and Declan exclaimed.

 **(Ash LP: 4000 hand x5)**

 **(Declan LP: 4000 hand x5)**

"Since you gave me the favor of choosing the field, I'll let you go first." Ash says.

"You really believe I was doing you a favor, don't you?" Declan asks with a short chuckle, getting Ash to look confused. "That tells me a lot about what kind of competitor you are." He adjusts his spectacles. "Alright, I'll accept your offer. The first turn is mine. To begin I'm going to activate 3 Spell cards from my hand. First this one." He says, showing one of the cards. "This legally binding Spell is known as Dark Contract with the Gate!" He activates it. "This Spell deals me 1000 points of damage at the beginning of my next turn." Ash's eyes narrows, confused as to why he would use a card that deals that much damage.

It was shared with his friends. "Why would he do that?" Yuya asks.

"Yeah it's like he's trying to throw the duel when it's just started." Gong says.

"However, there is a benefit. Once each turn I can add a D/D monster that's level 4 or below to my hand from my deck." A card pops out from his deck, which he drew and showed it. "I would like to introduce you to my D/D Cerberus."

"D/D?" Fredrick asks.

"It stands for Different Dimension." Sora informs. "Those monsters are out of this world."

"For my second move, I will activate this Spell card. It's the same one I used before." At this statement, everyone of You Show was shocked, except Ash.

"What!? By doing that, when his next turn comes up…" Gong trails off.

"He'll be 2000 points weaker." Zuzu finishes in shock.

Another card pops out from Declan's deck, to which he drew and showed again. "Once again, I have the power to add a D/D monster to my hand if it is level 4 or below. In this case the monster is D/D Lilith." He put it in his hand and pulled a different card from his hand. "And now I will activate a third Spell card. It's called Dark Contract with the Swamp King. And like my other contracts, once my next turn starts, I get hit with 1000 points of damage."

"If you're willing to sacrifice so much LP and not look worried, then I can only assume you have a few tricks up your sleeves don't you?" Ash asks, but it was more of a statement.

"It's not up my sleeve, but in my deck, Ash. With the power of Dark Contract with the Swamp King, I can summon a Fusion Monster without using a Fusion Spell." Declan states. This causes Sora and Yuya to look surprised and Ash's eyes to widen slightly.

"So that's what you're up to." Ash says to himself, but Declan heard him.

"I doubt you understand what my strategy is. Now watch as I fuse Cerberus and Lilith together." The 2 monsters appeared behind Declan, a Fusion portal behind them, which they promptly swirled into. "Hellhound that bares its fangs, vamp of the dark night! In a whirlpool of light from the realm of the dead, become one and give birth to a new king! I Fusion Summon! D/D/D Flame King Genghis!" A monster that looks like an overlord, with a fiery aura around it, along with a orange and yellow sword and shield. **(2000/1500 lvl: 6)**

"Aw man." Yuya mutters.

"The guy is a Fusion master!" Gong exclaims.

"Still, he put a lot of points at risk for just one monster, don't you think?" Zuzu asks.

"This one must be really powerful." Ally says, worried.

"It has 3 Ds." Tate comments.

"That's a lot of letters." Fredrick adds.

"I got a bad feeling. I can't pin it down exactly, but… if it's as powerful as it is terrifying, Ash is in for trouble." Sora states.

Up in the control room, Skip was doing research on his Duel Disk. "I can't find any record of Declan Akaba using Fusion summoning in a duel before. He has an incredible string of victories and now he's even more powerful." He says to himself before looking out to the field. "This isn't looking very good for Ash. Or for the You Show school."

"I'm placing 2 cards face down." Declan declares, the cards appearing and disappearing. "It's your move." **(Declan hand x0)**

Ash's eyes narrow. "Why would he use all of the cards in his hand?" He asks himself.

"That's a really risky move." Zuzu says, noticing it too.

Just then, Declan not only adjusted his spectacles, but he was also stroking his chin. While the others of You Show were thinking he was just being arrogant or cocky, Ash actually saw the glint in his eyes, as if he was calculating what moves Ash will make before he makes them. Ash then hears the cheers of the young trio of You Show and smiled towards them. "Don't worry guys, I'll beat Declan, but I'm gonna do it by using the You Show style." With that Ash runs forward. "It's showtime! I draw!" Ash draws his card and looks at it along with his hand. 1 monster, 2 spells, and 3 traps. "Please put your hands together for Boldore, the Sturdy Boulder Pokemon!" Appearing on the field, was a blue rock-like Pokémon with an array of red crystals on its back and front, and a spine protruding from between its yellow ears. Rocky chunks at its sides comprise pincer-like limbs, tipped with red crystals similar to the ones on its back. **(1800/1500 lvl: 4)** "Let's go Boldore!" Using Boldore as a springboard, Ash jumped up high in order to reach the top of a scaffolding, Boldore then floating beside him. "I now activate the Spell, Power Trick! I can only activate this when I have a Pokemon monster on the field! This card swaps your monster's ATK and DEF points!" Boldore's crystals glowed, before he sent a pulse of energy to Genghis. The energy encompassed the D/D/D Fusion monster and caused it to drop it's sword. **(2000-500=1500)**

"And just like that, it weakens Flame King." Ally says.

"Which means Boldore is perfectly set up to strike now, nice going." Tate compliments Ash.

"Wonderbar!" Fredrick cheers, doing his jig.

"Time to extinguish that Flame King! Boldore, attack with Stone Edge!" Multiple sharp stones started orbiting around Boldore, before he promptly launched them at Genghis.

Declan raised his hand, index finger raised. "You won't be putting anything out. I activate the Trap Dark Contract with the Witch!" He declares, the trap flipping up.

"A contract, again?" Gong asks, shocked.

"But then that means he's…" Yuya trails off.

"I will once again take damage at the beginning of my next turn. Another 1000 points to be exact." Declan calmly states. Ash looks around for an Action Card. He looks up and spots one on one of the floating balls, and jump towards it. "Meanwhile, my Flame King Genghis will benefit, by gaining 1000 ATK points." Genghis glows a rainbow aura. **(1500+1000=2500)** It then used it's shield to to knock the Stone Edge right toward Boldore.

"But then that means Boldore's attack will go ka plunk!" Fredrick exclaims, as Ash grabs the Action Card and lands on a higher platform.

"I don't think so! I activate the Action Spell: High Dive! Until the end of this turn, Boldore gains 1000 ATK points!" A circus trampoline appeared in front of Boldore, which caused the Stone Edge to bounce back to Flame King. **(1800+1000=2800)** Genghis then lowered his sword and laid it flat, Declan jumping onto it. The D/D/D monster then launched it's master high up. Declan managing to get an Action Card. But what happened next, shocked Ash. **(2500-1000=1500)** The attack hit, causing an explosion which covered Declan's field in smoke. Everyone watched in silence. But when the smoke cleared, the You Show school was shocked seeing Genghis still there.

"He survived?" Yuya asks shocked.

"The Action Card." Ash states.

"Yes, as you said, I managed to activate an Action Card myself. The Spell card Evasion to be precise." Declan says, standing on a platform that was opposite of Ash's.

Ash was silent for a minute, before smirking. "Good, I was hoping that monster wouldn't go down so easily." He says.

In the control room, Skip strokes his chin. "Huh, seems to be an even match." He says thoughtfully.

"Well I disagree." Zuzu denies.

"Yeah Declan still has to pay off 4 Contracts. When they come due at the start of his turn, it'll cost him 4000 LP. He's toast." Gong states.

"All Ash has to do, is end his turn right now and Declan won't know what hit him." Yuya says, with a smile thinking his friend is gonna get an easy win.

But, Ash on the other hand knew something was not right. ' _This doesn't make sense, why is he so calm about all the LP he's risking. He knows that he can't take that hit but he isn't worried about it. And Genghis' ATK points went back to 1500, so what happened with that Dark Contract with the Witch?'_ Ash thinks to eyes then widened, remembering a crucial fact. He looked down at his Disk's screen. His eyes narrowed slightly, seeing he was right. ' _So that's why he's not worried.'_ He looks over to Declan for a minute, to see him smile before he chuckled shortly. "I don't see what's so funny." Ash says.

"Of course you don't." Declan adjusts his spectacles. "What made me laugh, was remembering the moment when you said you would do me a favor and let me go first." Ash looked confused. "It's clear from your attitude that you're a nice guy Ash. But alas, you haven't learned yet that in a duel, playing nice is the quickest path to defeat." This causes Ash's eyes to narrow. "By ending your turn now, you think you'll have your victory, but you haven't made a move. Perhaps since you're a nice guy, your sense of fair play has caused you to hesitate? Such weakness will inevitably lead to your downfall."

"What is he yacking about?" Fredrick asks.

"It don't make no difference." Gong says.

"Ignore him Ash!" Ally calls out.

"Just end your turn!" Tate adds in.

Ash was silent for a moment before grabbing 3 of his cards. "I set 3 cards face down, and end my turn." The cards appeared before disappearing. "Now Power Trick's effect ends, returning Genghis' ATK points back to normal. The same goes for Boldore and High Dive." The 2 monsters glowed their respective colors. **(1500+500=2000) (2800-1000=1800) (Ash hand x1)**

"Alright! Now Declan has to pay off 4000 LP because of his Contracts! Ash wins!" Yuya cheers, as the 4 contracts appeared in front of Declan.

But as Declan was about to make a retort, Ash beat him to the punch. "What Contracts?" He asks. This confuses the rest of You Show until the Contract cards exploded, shocking them.

"Where did they go?" Yuya asks.

"So, you did notice my other Trap card." Declan says, smiling. "With Contract Laundering, I negated the effects of all my Contracts and destroyed them. I guess it's true what they say, a contract is only as good as the card it is written on."

"And since you negated all of their effects, you don't take any damage." Ash states.

"Correct. Lastly, I draw 1 card for each Contract I destroyed. The duel continues Ash!" Declan declares, drawing 4 cards. **(Declan hand x4)**

" **I gotta say, this guy is pretty good."** Yuma says as the 3 spirit duelists appeared.

" **Yeah, he easily negated his Contract cards and was able to get 4 cards in return."** Jaden states.

" **Be careful Ash, he may have some more tricks up his sleeve."** Yusei warns.

Ash looks and nods at them discreetly. " _Don't worry, I will."_ He assures telepathically. They nod and returns to his soul. He then looks towards Declan with a smile. "To be honest, I'm glad that this duel didn't end too early. I mean where's the fun in a show if it ends too soon. Now I can show you the Dueltaining performance that Yuya taught me." Ash says, looking over to the observation room and smiles at Yuya, who returned it with a grin.

"So then Yuya is carrying on Yusho Sakaki's legacy." Declan says, getting Yuya and Ash to look at him.

"He knows my dad?" Yuya asks.

Kit then laughs. "Are you serious? How could we not know him? After all your old man was a famous duelist." He says.

"Yeah, famous for being a complete chicken." Dipper mocks, getting Yuya to growl in anger and Ash to clench his fist, angered that someone would insult his friend's family. Before either of them could say anything, Declan responded first.

"Be quiet!" He yells at the students, getting them to freeze in fear. Declan then looks at Yuya. "Sorry. I greatly admire your father's exploits. Yusho Sakaki made Action Dueling as popular and exciting as it is today. He was a true pioneer." He then looks at Ash. "I've long waited to test myself against his dueling philosophy and now I have the chance. We must use all our skills. From here on out, I won't hold back." What he said was a surprise for everyone on You Show, but Ash narrowed his eyes.

"So you have been holding back." Ash states.

"Perhaps." Declan says with a smile. He then drew his next card. "I draw! I'll summon a level 3 tuner monster, my D/D Night Howl!" A vicious monster mouth appeared on his field. **(300/600 lvl: 3)**

What he called it was a shock for all of You Show, even Ash's eyes widened in surprise. "A tuner monster!?" He asks.

"Once I summon this monster, I can summon another. It must be a D/D monster that is level 4 or below in my graveyard, and I have to reduce its ATK points all the way to zero. I have decided to revive, D/D Lilith!" Declan declares. A graveyard portal opened up, and Lilith popped out of it. **(0/2100 lvl: 4)** "I tune my level 3 D/D Night Howl with my level 4 Lilith!" Night Howl becomes 3 green wings, which circle Lilith, making it turn to 4 stars. "Howls that tear through the night. Gain the swiftness of a gale and become the cries of a newborn king!" He chants as a beam of light shot through. "I Synchro Summon! Level 7 D/D/D Gust King Alexander!" A monster that was like Genghis, but green and silver, minus the shield, a wind like aura around it and add in a cape, appeared on the field **(2500/2000 lvl: 7)**

"Fusion and Synchro monsters?" Ash asks, stunned.

"I'm not finished!" Declan declares. "Flame King Genghis, activate your special ability and turn up the heat!" Genghis' aura changed to purple as it pointed its sword straight up. "When a D/D/D monster other than my Flame King Genghis is summoned, I'm then allowed to summon a D/D monster from my graveyard, and that's what I'll do. Rise once again, D/D Lilith!" Lilith once again appeared on the field. **(100/2100 lvl: 4)** "And as a further twist, D/D/D Gust King Alexander's special ability activates! Whenever a D/D monster is summoned, my Gust King can command another D/D monster to rise from the graveyard, as it will now. Return to me, D/D Cerberus!" Another graveyard portal opened up, and out came a disfigured monster with 3 dog heads. **(1800/600 lvl: 4)**

Ash's eyes widens, realizing his intentions. "Two level 4 monsters?" He breathes out.

"That's right, so you should know that I intend to overlay my Cerberus and Lilith." Declan says. "So it begins" Lilith and Cerberus turn into purple lights of energy, before they shot into the Overlay Network that appeared above.

"What's beginning?" Ash asks nervously.

"Your downfall of course. With these 2 monsters, I build the Overlay Network!" Declan declares, as a beam of light shot from the portal. "In order to subjugate all that resides in this world, now, descend onto the peak of the world!" He chants. "I Xyz Summon! Rank 4! D/D/D Wave King Caesar!" Out came a monster similar to Genghis and Alexander, but only more bulky with a giant sword, and an aura that looks like waves. **(2400/1200 Rnk: 4)**

All of You Show stares in shock. "No way." Yuya mutters.

"He can summon Xyz monsters too?" Sora asks.

"This is blowing Gong's mind." Gong says.

Henrietta watches with a smirk on her face.

"He can summon three different ways. That's amazing. I've never seen a duelist command such power." Skip says.

"I should warn you, that I have not even begun to unleash my most powerful monsters." Declan warns, adjusting his spectacles. "The worst is yet to come. That sounds rather terrifying, don't you think? I can assure you that the reality is far worse." He releases a brief chuckle. Ash's head was lower, cap shadowing his eyes, and shoulders shaking, worrying the You Show students.

"Oh man, the weight of this match must of become too much for Ash." Yuya says, worried.

"He must think he can't do it." Zuzu mutters. The young trio looks at Ash in concern.

"But Ash has gotta pull through, You Show is at stake here." Gong states.

"Maybe he can't handle the pressure of this duel." Sora says.

"Pikachu." Pikachu says in worry, ears lowered down sadly.

"Oh well, looks like the champion of You Show was all talk." Henrietta smugly states.

Declan didn't say anything, simply staring at his opponent. That's when they heard something from Ash. It was small at first, but it gradually grew in volume. They expected him to be sobbing, but were actually shocked at what they heard. Laughter. It started as a small chuckle, but it gradually turn into full on laughter. Everyone except Declan looked shocked that he was laughing while staring down certain defeat. Declan just raises an eyebrow. Eventually Ash calms down, but still has a big grin on his face.

"I must ask, what was so funny?" Declan inquires.

"Nothing, it's just… this duel has got me so excited! You put me in a position where someone would think it's impossible to overcome these powerful monsters! But instead of giving up, I'm gonna take them head on, because that's what makes a duel great, not stopping until either one of us is out of LP, or the last card is drawn!" Ash says determinedly.

Everyone was silent, the You Show Gang and Gong were looking at Ash in approval and adoration, and the LID students were impressed that he was talking so determined, even though he was heavily outnumbered. However, Henrietta was smirking. ' _Ignorant boy, Declan isn't even trying, and you think you can win. I can't wait to see him crush you.'_ She thought.

"Well then…" Declan starts, adjusting his glasses. "Let the true battle begin. Flame King Genghis, crush that boulder into dust!" He swipes his arm at that declaration. Genghis then ran forward and lunge at Boldore.

"I activate a Trap!" Ash declares, one of his face downs starting to flip up.

"Of course! One of those cards must be Protect, which means Boldore is safe." Yuya states, optimistically.

' _Just as I thought.'_ Declan thinks to himself.

But they were wrong. Instead of Protect, it was… "Defense Draw! This card reduces the battle damage to 0!" Ash declares. Genghis' sword collided with Boldore, an explosion occurring, Genghis jumping out from the smoke. "Along with that, I get to draw a card!" He draws another card from his deck. **(Ash hand x2)**

"You may have gotten an extra card, but now you are defenceless." Declan states.

Ash smirks. "Am I?" He asks, getting curious looks from everyone, even Declan raised an eyebrow. The spectators eyes then widens upon seeing Boldore still on the field once the smoke cleared. "Boldore's special ability allows him to negate destruction once a turn."

"Well then, I'll just have to blow that boulder away! Gust King Alexander, take out Boldore once and for all!" Declan declares. Alexander surged forward.

"I activate another Trap! This one being the card you all expected, Protect!" The trap flips up and produces a green shield that protected Boldore from Alexander's sword. "This negates one of your attacks, and once that's done, it flips back face down." The shield disappeared and the card returned back face down.

"I admire how you protect your monster so far, but I'm afraid it's time for it to end. Wave King Caesar, crush Boldore!" Now the Water attributed Xyz monster charges forward, sword raised high. Acting quickly, Ash used Boldore as a springboard again, gaining enough height to grab another Action Card on another floating ball. He lands back on his previous platform.

"I activate the Action Spell: Miracle! This prevents Boldore's destruction and halves the battle damage!" He declares. Caesar brings his sword down onto Boldore, creating an explosion. Boldore wasn't destroyed, but a small shockwave blew in Ash's face. **(2400-1800=600/2=300) (Ash LP: 4000-300=3700)**

"Hm, impressive, I commend you for keeping your monster safe for this long. I set one card face down, and end my turn." Declan declares, a card appearing then disappearing on his field. **(Declan hand x3)**

All of Ash's supporters gave sighs of relief. "That was close." Yuya says.

"Yeah, Ash was able to save Boldore, so at least he has a monster still." Zuzu states.

"Ash still took damage, even if it wasn't that much." Gong notes.

"Yeah, and he still has to beat those three kings somehow." Sora points out.

"Ash will find a way to beat them." Ally says confidently.

"Yeah, no way will he give up so easily." Tate adds in.

"He'll beat them like they are nothing." Fredrick joins in.

"Pika, pikachu Pikapi." Pikachu whispers encouragingly for Ash.

Yusei, Yuma, and Jaden appeared behind Ash. " **This guy is definitely no pushover."** Jaden comments.

" **Yeah, he managed to use Fusion, Synchro, and Xyz summoning."** Yusei says.

" **Don't worry Ash, you can do this, and we'll back you up all the way!"** Yuma adds in encouragingly, with Jaden and Yusei nodding in agreement.

" _Thanks guys, I won't let you or the others down."_ Ash smiles, grateful for the encouragement. The spirits nodded and went back into his soul, as Ash focuses back on Declan. "Here I come Declan! I'm gonna fight your kings with everything I got! It's my turn! I draw!" He draws his next card. He looks at it and plays it. "I activate Pot of Greed!" The smiling pot appears on his field. "This allows me to draw 2 more cards!" He drew once again, causing the pot to disappear. Ash looks at his cards again, before putting one of them in his hand and playing the other one. "Now I activate Graceful Charity! I draw three cards so long as I discard 2!" Once again, he draws his cards, but discards two of them. "But those 2 cards won't be gone for long, because now I activate my last face down, Disgraceful Charity! This allows me to get back the 2 cards I sent to the graveyard." The 2 cards popped out from his graveyard, before he added them to his hand, giving him a full hand of 6.

"Alright, he managed to get a full hand in just one go!" Gong exclaims.

"Let's hope those cards gives him an edge." Zuzu says.

Ash looks at his hand, 1 spell, 1 trap, and 4 monsters. He smiles upon seeing certain monsters, knowing what to do. He spreads his arms and legs wide. "Ladies and gentlemen! I hope you all enjoyed the opening act, but now it's time for this show's main act to appear! I promise that from here on out, there's no holding back!" He announces, the LID supporters looks impassive, but the You Show side was getting excited.

"I know what's coming next!" Ally says in excitement.

"Yeah! Go Ash, show them the power of Pendulum Summoning!" Yuya cheers.

Ash nods and presents his cards. "With the Scale 1 Pikachu, the Electric Mouse Pokemon and the Scale 8 Bayleef, the Wafting Aroma Pokemon, I set the Pendulum Scale, I'm making a comeback starting now!" Ash exclaims, slapping the 2 cards on the edges of the blade, 'PENDULUM' appearing on it briefly. The 2 monsters rose in their pillars, their numbers below them. "As you know, this grants me the power to summon monsters that are level 2 through 7, all at the same time! Swing far pendulum, carve the arc of victory! My monsters are ready to unite, and fight!" He swings an arm up, a portal opening above him, a red light coming out first, followed by a bigger blue light. "I Pendulum Summon! Level 6! Pignite, the Flaming Boar Pokemon! And level 7! The silent protector of peace, Greninja, the Frog Ninja Pokemon!" The 2 lights took form and became Pignite **(2100/1500 lvl: 6 scale: 2)** and Greninja **(2500/2000 lvl: 7 scale: 5)**.

"Oh wow, a new monster." Tate says, looking at Pignite.

"And it looks really cute too." Ally adds.

"It looks really fired up!" Fredrick says, snorting like a pig.

"Sic that pig on him, Ash!" Zuzu cheers.

"Attack!" Gong shouts out.

"You can do it!" Yuya follows up.

"Your school is counting on you." Skip says from the control room.

The lights dimmed and 3 spotlights shone on him "Now, my monsters and I are ready to entertain you to your hearts content! But first, I'm gonna give Boldore a little pick me up!" He played the spell in his hand. "I activate the Spell card! Swords Dance! Thanks to this card, I can double one of my Pokemon monsters ATK points, and I choose Boldore!" Boldore glowed brown, signifying his increased power. **(1800*2=3600)** "Now it's time, for my monsters to dethrone these 3 kings!" Ash then dived from his platform, shocking his friends. As he was near the ground, Boldore was right below him, allowing Ash to land on him, and use him as a springboard again to jump higher. Pignite, who was on the ground, held his paws up high, which Ash landed on, hands first. Pignite then threw him up in the air again, allowing him to do a couple of flips and twirls. Greninja was then under his landing area, doing a handstand. This allows Ash to land on Greninja's feet with his own. Ash grins and starts bowing to the audience. The You Show supporters snapped out of their shock and starts applauding for Ash. Ash then steps down from his raised position, allowing Greninja to stand up. "Thank you, thank you. Now it's time for the main act, starting with Boldore! Go take out that Gust King Alexander with Stone Edge!" Sharp rocks orbited around Boldore, before they shot towards Alexander, the stones creating mini explosions upon contact, making Declan raise his arm in defense from the shockwave. **(3600-2500=1100) (Declan LP: 4000-1100=2900)** "Now Pignite is gonna teach Genghis the true meaning of the word firepower! Flame Charge, let's go! Also, whenever Pignite battles, his ATK points go up by 300!" **(2100+300=2400)** Pignite then starts stomping the ground, covering himself in a smokescreen. Pignite then charges out from the dust, bathed in fire, making a beeline for Genghis. Genghis raised it's shield to block the blow, but was futile as it was engulfed in an explosion, another shockwave blowing Declan's way. **(2400-2000=400) (Declan LP: 2900-400=2500)** "Now it's Greninja's turn! Take out Caesar with Cut!" A white blade appeared in Greninja's hand as he charged towards Caesar, no one noticing one of its overlay units disappearing. As the Cut was about to land, Caesar suddenly took a step back, dodging the attack, surprising everyone of You Show. "How did you-?" Ash started but Declan cut him off.

"While you were attacking, I jumped up and managed to get an Action Card. The Action Spell: Evasion to be precise, which I'm sure you know what it does already." He states calmly.

"Well, at least I was able to get rid of 2 of your kings." Ash says proudly.

"Did you?" Declan asks, causing Ash to blink. The smoke cleared, revealing Genghis and Alexander still on the field, shocking all of You Show again.

"What!?" Ash exclaims.

"But that's not possible." Yuya adds.

"This is bad." Zuzu states

"But I saw Ash destroy them." Tate says.

"Gong too." Gong follows up.

"How are your monsters still here?" Ash asks, a bead of sweat going down his forehead.

"My monsters were saved thanks to King Caesar's special ability." Declan states.

"What ability?" Ash inquires, looking at him.

"It's quite impressive. After the battle, the mighty Caesar used one of his overlay units, this allowed him to re-summon all monsters that were destroyed by you in battle." The president explains.

"He can revive your whole team?" Ash asks, surprised.

"Is he a monster, or some kind of miracle worker?" Gong wonders.

"Of course, such immense powers comes at a great price. Specifically, every monster that Caesar revived will cost me LP on my next turn. In fact I must give up 1000 LP for each one." Declan says.

"So the damage will 2 times 1000." Tate says.

"And if you subtract that from his current LP, he'll only have 500 LP left, which means Ash almost wins." Fredrick adds.

"I doubt Declan did this without giving himself a way out. Isn't that right?" Ash states.

"You are correct!" Declan confirms, his face down flipping up. "I activate a Trap card! By using D/D/D Human Resources, I can relocate 3 D/D/D monsters to my deck!" Declan's three kings went back to his extra deck. "Then I can recruit 2 D/D monsters from my deck and send them straight to my hand!" 2 cards popped out from his deck, which he grabbed, and showed briefly. **(Declan hand x5)**

"I place a card face down and end my turn. Also Swords Dance effect ends too." The card appearing and disappearing, and Boldore glowing dimly **(3600/2=1800) (Ash hand x0)**. "Gotta say, this has been one of the most exciting duels I've ever been in! So far it's been one surprise after another! You've done an excellent job on keeping me on my toes, and if there's one thing I like, it's not knowing what my opponent's gonna throw next!" Ash praises his opponent.

"I too have enjoyed our duel. The experience have been most educational." Declan says calmly, before adjusting his spectacles. "Especially, when you showed me what it's like to be on the receiving end of one your Pendulum monsters attacks. Now I will return the favor." What he said confused both Ash and Yuya. "I have unlocked the secrets of many forms of summoning." His eyes then gained a fierce glint in them, before pointing at Ash. "Including one that is highly prized by you and Yuya Sakaki!" Yuya just looked even more confused, but Ash's eyes widened in realization. Declan continues. "Prepare yourself, for a surprise." He draws his card. Then he presents 2 of them. "Using these cards, D/D Savant Galilei and D/D Savant Kepler, I'm going to set the Pendulum Scale!" What he declared, shocked not only the LID students, but the rest of You Show as well, Yuya the most.

"No way!" Yuya exclaims in disbelief.

"I'll beat you at your own game Ash!" Declan says, slapping the cards on the edges of his Disk's blade, 'PENDULUM' lighting up on it.. "Just like you, I can also Pendulum Summon!" The two monsters appeared in the light blue pillars, with the numbers 1 and 10 below their respective places. "I can now summon monsters from level 2 through 9 at the same time!"

"Maybe the guy is just bluffing." Gong says, trying to deny what he's saying.

"I don't think so." Zuzu breathes out in shock.

"Me either." Sora agrees.

Tate, Ally, and Fredrick stares in stunned silence.

"Pika." Pikachu mutters in worry.

"This can't be real." Yuya, being the most stunned, was deeper in denial than the others.

"The power of the universe swings between the forces of darkness and of light, I shall now harness the power of this eternal osculation! I Pendulum Summon! And call upon my three monsters to emerge!" A portal opened up, and out came a large beam of purple energy. Ash grits his teeth, waiting for what's about to come, while everyone else was shocked seeing that Declan actually succeeded in his Pendulum Summoning. "Behold! The 3 fearsome immortals who can command the obedience of all! My trio of D/D/D Doom King Armageddons!" The light then took form of three Fiend-Machine like monsters, with a crystal like body, but with no arms or legs. **(3000/1000 lvl: 8 scale: 4 x3)** The three kings positioned themselves in a sort of loose semi circle, towering over Ash and his monsters. The rest of You Show looked on in shocked and fearful silence.

"But how? How did he learn to Pendulum Summon?" Yuya asks to himself.

"Attack! Your target, Greninja, the Frog Ninja Pokemon!" Declan declares, pointing down, to Ash and his monsters. The center Armageddon started floating higher. "Destroy Ash's monster!" The king fired several purple lasers, all impacting and destroying Greninja, harsh winds blowing into Ash's face. **(3000-2500=500) (Ash LP: 3700-500=3200)** "Now my second Doom King Armageddon shall attack your Pignite!" Just like the first Armageddon, the right Armageddon also fired several purple beams at Pignite, destroying it and pushing Ash back from the force of it. **(3000-2400=600) (Ash LP: 3200-600=2600)**

"Pignite and Greninja are Pendulum monsters, so they go to my Extra Deck instead of the graveyard!" Ash states, putting his destroyed monsters into his Extra Deck.

"I see so his frog was sent to his Extra Deck, along with his little pig." Declan mutters to himself, before he swiped his arm wide. "No matter! Doom King Armageddon, crush that Boldore!" The Armageddon to the left copied it's counterparts movements and fired at Boldore.

"Remember, Boldore can negate his destruction!" Ash reminds the president, as the beams impacted Boldore.

"But you still take damage." Declan says his own reminder.

Which was true, the shockwaves were much stronger, sending Ash flying "Gah!" He yells out, before he landed hard. **(3000-1800=1200) (Ash LP: 2600-1200=1400)**

"Oh no, Ash!" Zuzu cries in worry.

Yuya finally snaps out of his stupor when he saw his friend landing hard on the ground. "Ash are you ok!?" Yuya calls out in concern.

Ash slowly gets up, wobbling a bit. "I'm fine Yuya." He reassures his friend.

Declan jumped up to a floating ball with an Action Card on it, landing back on his previous platform. "Not for long!" He calls out, drawing everyone's attention to him. "I play the Action Spell: Wonder Chance! This allows one of my Doom Kings to attack again! I shall have my last Armageddon attack your Boldore again!" Ash frantically looks for an Action Card, before finally spotting one and running towards it, just as the Armageddon fired. As the lasers got closer to Boldore, Ash lunges forward to the Action Card, just as the lasers hit Boldore causing an explosion.

"Oh no Ash!" All of You Show yelled in concern. Pikachu watches with extreme concern for his trainer.

All was silent, everyone waiting anxiously for the smoke to clear. It soon cleared enough to show Ash in a kneeling position. **(3000-1800=1200) (Ash LP: 1400-1200=200)** "It was a valiant effort to try and protect your monster, but in the end, it was pointless." Declan calmly states.

As Ash was panting, he managed to smirk. "Was it?" He asks. The smoke cleared all the way, showing Boldore still out, making everyone look surprised. "At the last second, I activated the Action Spell: Selection of Miracle! I had to select one of two effects, either my monster isn't destroyed by battle, or the damage is halved, I chose to save Boldore."

"So it seems. Putting a card face down, I end my turn." Declan states.

In the observation room, Henrietta slowly claps. "Impressive work Declan. Now that you have mastered the Pendulum Summoning technique, the You Show School is finished." She says aloud, then thinks to herself. ' _It is a complete victory. Once we've added Pendulum studies with the Leo curriculum, I can have You Show raised to the ground.'_ She thought in glee.

In the control room, Skip takes a seat in disbelief. "How did he master so many techniques? It almost seems too easy. If you ask me, there's something strange about this Declan character." Skip mutters to himself.

"What's Ash gonna do now? He only had one advantage, but now that's gone." Yuya says, concerned.

"It's my turn. I draw." Ash pants out, drawing his card. He looks at it revealing a Spell card. He looks over to Declan and raises his hand. "I activate my face down. It's a Trap known as Draw Block. This card prevents you from drawing cards outside of your turn, so long as it's on the field." Chains materialized around Declan's deck, signifying the card's activation. "Now I activate the Spell Card, Card of Sanctity. This allows us to both draw until we have 6 cards in our hands, but since Draw Block is in effect, you can't draw." He manages to get out before falling to a knee, breathing heavily.

"Ash!" All of You Show shouts.

"Why don't you give up now? You barely have any LP left, and in order for you to win, you would need a miracle in the next cards you draw. And Pendulum Summoning is not only special to you or Yuya anymore, so you're all out of tricks. Fighting further would be just pointless." Declan calmly states.

"You're wrong!" Ash exclaims, pushing himself to stand up. "As long as my friends believe in me, I will never give up! All of my friends are counting on me to save our school! And after all that they have done for me, I'm not just gonna give up and let their hopes and dreams down! If anything, I will make sure that their belief in me isn't for nothing! I will beat you with the help of all of my friends!" He says, his hand laying on his chest first, before pointing at Declan. "And I know that Pendulum Summoning isn't special to me or Yuya anymore, but that's ok. It was gonna happen eventually when others start using Pendulum Summoning as well. Matter of fact, me and you are perfect examples of that! Eventually, everyone will be able to use it! And since Yuya was the one who made Pendulum Summoning, it only make sense that he will gain the most experience of it, he will also be the one to unlock all of it's secrets!"

"Ash…" Yuya breathes out, the words he's hearing reaching his heart.

Declan merely adjusted his spectacles once again. "If that is all, then I suggest you draw your cards. Even if you draw monsters that can withstand attack, there is no way you can take down my 3 Armageddons!"

"You don't know that! You act as if you know everything about my deck! Well guess what, you don't know anything about it! My monsters are my friends! They fight by my side, and I'm more then happy to do the same! And just like I said before, me and my friends will beat you together! Earlier, when you said I'm a nice guy, that's right, I am nice guy! But so what!? At least I'm respecting my opponent!" Ash takes a few deep breathes from all his shouting. But what none of them notice, that throughout it all, Ash's deck glowed golden briefly. "Now it's time I show you the true power of my cards! No… my friends!"

But just then, a bright shone in front of Ash, blinding him briefly. When he could see again, he was surprised seeing he was in a vast white space. He looks around confused for a minute, before 3 silhouettes appeared before him. One looked like a knight with a sword and shield with teal eyes, another looked like man with wings with red eyes, and the last was a dragon with yellow eyes. Ash looked at the 3 in shock. " **You are worthy."** He heard 3 male voices sound out. Before he could respond, he was blinded again, and found himself back in the duel.

He looks around confused. ' _What was that?'_ He thinks to himself. He then notices a notification in his Extra Deck. He taps it and his eyes widen in surprise at what he saw. He turns around to see that Yuma, Yusei and Jaden had appeared, all 3 of them wearing smiles that said, 'go for it'. That was all the encouragement he needed. Smiling and nodding, Ash focused back on Declan. "Get ready because we're coming at you with everything we've got! I DRAW!" He declares, drawing his 6 cards, a trail of red, blue, white, and black following it, surrounded in sparkles. He looks at the cards he drew. 3 Spells and 3 monsters. He smiles, knowing what to do. The lights then dimming down, followed by 3 spotlights shining on him, limbs spread wide. "Ladies and gentlemen, it's showtime!" With that everyone waited in anticipation, anxious to see what he would do next. "As you can see, Declan has summoned out his main stars for this show, so I think it's only fair, I do the same!" What he said confused everyone, even Declan was curious. "First, as you all know, with my set Pendulum Scale, I'm allowed to summon monsters level 2 through 7 all at the same time! Swing again Pendulum, carve the arc to victory! My monsters are ready to unite, and fight!" The pendulum portal opened once again, but this time, purple, 2 red, and blue lights shot out from it. "I Pendulum Summon! Revive and keep guard Greninja, the Frog Ninja Pokemon! Flame back up, Pignite, the Flame Boar Pokemon! And from my hand, level 4! Gagaga Magician! And level 2! The tuner monster, Nitro Synchron!" Along with Pignite **(2100/1500 lvl: 6 scale: 2)** and Greninja **(2500/2000 lvl: 7 scale: 5)** , came a magician with a little bling **(1500/1000 lvl: 4)** and a pink and white gas tank with arms and legs. **(300/100 lvl: 2)** What he said, shocked not only You Show, but LID as well.

"A tuner monster!?" Gong and Kit both exclaimed.

"But first, I'll overlay my level 4 Boldore and Gagaga Magician, in order to build the Overlay Network!" At this declaration, Boldore became a blob of brown energy, and Gagaga Magician became of blob of purple energy, before they shot upwards.

"The Overlay Network!?" Yuya and Dipper exclaimed this time.

The galaxy like portal appeared in front of Ash, the energies shooting into it, a beam of light shot through it. "Warrior of hope, appear now in order to bring justice upon those who have harmed the innocent! I Xyz Summon! Let's high five the sky, Number 39: Utopia!" Out of the portal came a strange cocoon, before it unfolded, revealing a Warrior monster in white and gold armor, with a part of it resembling wings, the faceplate was a dark gray with red eyes, '39' being imprinted on the left shoulder. Utopia then pumped his arms to his side, yellow overlay units orbiting him. **(2500/2000 Rnk: 4)**

Everyone looks at the monster in shock, except Declan. "Ash can… Xyz summon?" Yuya asks.

"I'm not done, now I tune my level 2 Nitro Synchron to my level 6 Pignite!" Nitro Synchron turns into 2 green rings, which Pignite went through, turning him into 6 stars, a beam of light shooting through. "Clustering stars will become a new shining star! Become the path its light shines upon! I Synchro Summon! Let's rev it up! Stardust Dragon!" Appearing from the light was a white dragon with parts of it being blue, yellow eye, and stardust surrounding it as it gave a roar. **(2500/2000 lvl: 8)**

Everyone look at the dragon in awe. "Xyz and Synchro Summoning?" Zuzu asks.

"Impressive." Declan says.

"Now I play the Spell Card, Extra Mirror!" A large round mirror appeared on his field. "Thanks to this card, by revealing one face down monster in my Extra Deck, this mirror can be treated as this monster. I reveal the level 6 Synchro monster, Junk Gardna!" In the mirror's reflection was a dark green guardian looking Warrior monster with two big pieces of metal attached to it's arms. "Now I activate the Spell Card, Polymerization!" What he declared surprised everyone again, even Declan's eyes widened slightly.

"Polymerization!?" Zuzu, Sora, and Julia exclaims.

"That's right, this card allows me to send cards on my field or in my hand to the graveyard, to perform a Fusion Summon! I'll send the Extra Mirror treated as Junk Gardna, and the Elemental Hero Neos in my hand to the graveyard!" In a flash of light, a silver humanoid figure with red and blue lines, a jewel in it's center, and blades on it's arms and head, and teal eyes, appeared on Ash's left side, the Extra Mirror to his right side, a fusion portal appeared behind the 2, before they swirled into it. "Hero of the cosmos, Guardian of the oppressed! Join together now in order to become the Knight that protects all! I Fusion Summon! Get your game on, Elemental Hero Neos Knight!" Out of the portal came a monster similar to Neos, but looked like it had more armor on, a double bladed sword and a shield. **(2500/1000 lvl: 7)**

Everyone looked at the four monsters in shocked awe. "Ash can… use Xyz, Synchro, and Fusion too?" Zuzu asks.

"And he used them after Pendulum Summoning his monsters." Yuya breathes out.

Declan looks at the monsters in shock, before he regains his composure and adjusts his spectacles. "An impressive display, but I'm afraid it was all for naught. My Doom King Armageddons are still much more powerful than your monsters."

"Yeah, if they fight by themselves, then they would lose." Ash agrees, then smiles. "But if they fight together, it's a whole different story." What he said confused everyone, before he plays his last card. "I activate the Spell Card, Bonds of Unity!" The card appears on the field, the picture showing 4 silhouettes, all of them crossing a card in the air, the cards being Greninja, Utopia, Stardust Dragon, and Neos Knight. "I can only activate this card, so long as I have Pendulum, Xyz, Synchro, and or Fusion monsters out on my field! This card allows one of my monsters to gain the ATK power of all the other monsters on my side of the field, and grants it the power to attack for every monster on my field, including itself! And the monster I choose is… Greninja, the Frog Ninja Pokemon!" Auras surrounded Ash's four monsters, Greninja's being the brightest.

"Ash has 4 monsters out on the field, all have 2500 ATK points. By choosing Greninja, it not only can attack 4 times but also gains, all the other monsters ATK points, which is…" Tate starts.

"7500 ATK points, giving Greninja 10000." Sora cuts in, still looking shocked that Ash Fusion Summoned. Greninja gave a cry, signaling his increased power. **(2500+7500=10000)**

"The downside is that he can only inflict damage via direct attack. But on the plus side, you can't activate any spells, traps, or any of your face up monster effects for this turn." Ash further explains his card, causing Declan's eyes to widen.

"Greninja has four attacks, and Declan only has three Armageddons, which means Ash can win this!" Gong exclaims happily. This realization excited the rest of You Show and shocked the rest of LID.

"Go Ash!" The trio cries out.

"Show him that he bit off more than he could chew!" Sora calls out.

"Make the Gong proud Ash!" Gong adds.

"That's the way Ash, show him your fiery spirit!" Skip cheers.

"You can do it Ash!" Zuzu follows up.

"Pikachu, Pikapi!" Pikachu whispers his cheers.

"We're all behind you, show him the true power of teamwork!" Yuya finishes up.

Ash looks at them with a smile and nods. He took a deep breath and spread his arms wide. "Ladies and gentlemen, it's time for the thrilling conclusion of this duel! I attack Declan and his three Doom Kings with Greninja the Frog Ninja Pokemon, Number 39: Utopia, Stardust Dragon, and Elemental Hero Neos Knight!" The four monsters started glowing blue, yellow, white, and orange of their respective auras, before charging their attacks. Go, Rising Stardust Cosmic Shuriken!" The energies of the latter 3 monsters went into the shuriken that Greninja was preparing, causing it to grow to a massive size, the colors of the shuriken becoming blue, yellow, gray, white, and orange. Greninja then spun around a few times, before throwing the shuriken, giving it enough speed to easily cut through the Doom King Armageddons, causing an enormous explosion, forcing Declan to guard his face with his arm. Once the shockwave stopped, Declan looked forward, his eyes widening in surprise upon seeing the shuriken heading straight for him. It impacted in front of him, exploding and creating a shockwave powerful enough that it caused him to go flying.

"Gaaaaaahhhhh!" Declan yells out, before falling on the ground in a heap. **(Declan LP: 2500-10000=0000 LOSE)**

 **(Ash: WIN)**

"The end!" Ash exclaims, taking a bow, his monsters following his example, as multiple sparkles floated around the field. Everyone was silent for a few moments as the Action Field disappeared. Then the You Show school exploded into cheers.

"He won, he won!" The young trio of You Show cheered, jumping around in a circle.

"The Gong is so happy that Ash won that duel!" Gong cries 'manly' tears.

"That victory was one of the sweetest." Sora says.

"That duel was one of the most blood pumping duels I've ever witnessed!" Skip exclaims.

"Yeah! Ash saved the school!" Zuzu joins in.

"You did it Ash, you did it." Yuya whispers, a smile on his face. Pikachu was jumping up and down, feeling incredibly proud for his trainer.

The LID supporters were shocked, Henrietta most of all. ' _How!? How did that some nobody, not only used the 3 summoning methods and Pendulum, but also managed to defeat Declan!?'_ Henrietta thinks to herself.

In the arena, Declan was on his back, looking at the sky. ' _Ash Ketchum… you are truly an intriguing person.'_ He thought. Hearing footsteps coming to a stop in front of him, he lifts his head to see the duelist he lost to right in front of him, a hand extended.

"Hey, that was a really fun duel, I hope we get to face one another again sometime." Ash says with a grin. Declan looks at him for a second, before smiling and grabbing the offered hand with one of his own, accepting the assistance to stand up.

"I must say that duel was truly spectacular, it has been long time since anyone has beaten me. I congratulate you on your victory, Ash Ketchum. As promised, the Leo Institute will leave You Show Duel School alone." Declan says, getting Ash to grin, as they shook hands.

"What's going on?" They heard Julia ask, making them turn to see Claude whispering in Henrietta's ear.

"We have to tell him." Henrietta says.

Just then an image of Claude appeared on Declan's Duel Disk. "This better be important." Declan says, turning away from Ash. He nodded once. "Understood." Ash heard Declan says. The president then starts walking to the exit. "I'm afraid a situation that requires my attention has been brought up. I'm afraid we have to cut pleasantries short. I hope we meet each other sometime in the near future." He then leaves, along with everyone else of LID.

Ash's mentors appeared behind him. " **That was tight Ash!"** Jaden exclaims.

" **Yeah, I definitely felt you feeling the flow in that duel!"** Yuma says cheerfully.

" **You did very well Ash, and the way how you used Pendulum to use Xyz, Synchro, and Fusion is nothing short of impressive. I think I speak for all 3 of us when I say, we are proud to have you as our host."** Yusei says, smiling. Jaden and Yuma nodding in agreement.

Ash smiles back. " _Thanks guys, that means a lot to me."_ He telepathically says, grateful for the kind words. The spirits smiled once again before going back into his soul as he walked to the door.

As Ash enters the observatory room, he was tackled to the ground by the little kids. They kept on congratulating Ash and how awesome he performed, getting him to laugh.

A sudden 'PIKAPI!' caused him to look up in time to see a yellow blur slammed into him. After shaking off the disorientation, Ash realizes he was being nuzzled by Pikachu. Laughing, he pat his partner. "Hey Pikachu, what'd you think of that duel?" He asks.

"Pika, pikachu chu chupi ka, Pikapi!" Pikachu squeaks, moving his arms around in rapid succession, getting Ash and everyone else to laugh. After getting up, Ash was then promptly crushed in a bone crushing hug by a crying Gong.

"The Gong is so happy that Ash won and saved the school!" Gong cries.

"Yeah… that's nice Gong… But can you let me go please?" Ash wheezes out.

Eventually, Gong did, allowing Ash to take big gulps of air, everyone else laughing at his expense. Feeling a hand on his shoulder, Ash looked over it to see a smiling Zuzu. "That was amazing Ash! You put on a great performance, and managed to save the school too!" She says cheerfully.

"Thanks Zuzu, I couldn't have done it without you guys' support." Ash says.

"Hey Ash." Yuya's voice came in, causing Ash to look to his side to see the Performapal duelist. "Do you really think I can unlock all the secrets of Pendulum Summoning?" He asks nervously.

"Of course Yuya, I know that you can unlock the secrets of Pendulum Summoning, all you gotta do is believe in yourself and believe in your friends. If you do that, then nothing can stop you from reaching your dreams and protecting your loved ones." Ash says, smiling in reassurance. This causes everyone else to smile, Yuya's being the brightest.

"Yeah, you're right Ash, so long as my friends and family have my back, then nothing is gonna bring me down." Yuya says cheerfully.

Everyone was smiling at one another, but then Skip rushed in from the control room. "Ash! Do you realize who you just defeated!?" He asks in shock.

"Yeah, I do." Ash nodded.

"Really? Who is he?" Zuzu asks.

"You don't know? He's Declan Akaba, the president of the Leo Corporation." Ash says matter of factly, shocking everyone but Skip, who was already shocked.

"What, the president!?/Pika!?" Everyone yells out.

"He's the CEO of Leo Corp, one of the biggest corporations in the world. No wonder he was able to get Pendulum cards." Skip explains. "In time, the whole world will be able to use Pendulum cards." This stunned everyone.

"The world." Yuya mutters, stunned. But Ash was had his own thoughts.

' _Declan Akaba, for some reason, I think we're gonna see each other again, very soon.'_

 **AN: AND DONE! This has been one of the most annoyingly long chapters I have written out, but it was all worth it! As you see, Ash has finally summon Yuma's, Yusei's and Jaden's aces! I know Neos Knight wasn't Jaden's ace, but I needed a Fusion ace, so I decided Neos Knight would be it! Next chapter will have Ash facing either Yuto or Yugo, which means it will be the debut of either Dark Anthelion Dragon or Clear Wing Fast Dragon, you guys can choose which one! That's about it guys, so as always show support by following, faving, reviewing, or all 3! No flames, only constructive criticism! That's about it, I will see you guys next time in chapter 7, so until then, this is FFCM15, signing out!**


	7. Chapter 7

**Pokemon ARC-V: Bonds of Unity**

 **AN: Hello everybody and welcome to the 7th chapter of Bonds of Unity! This chapter will be the duel of either Yuto or Yugo and the debut of either Dark Anthelion Dragon or Clearwing Fast Dragon! Which one shall it be? Find out now! So without further ado, here's chapter 7!**

Human Speech- "Hey"

Human thought- ' _Hey'_

Spirit speech- " **Hey"**

Spirit thought- ' _ **Hey'**_

" _Telepathy"_

 _Flashback_

 **Monster/player status**

Chapter 7

At the Paradise City Prep School, Ash, Zuzu, and Yuya were sitting outside on a bench, Zuzu sitting in between her 2 friends. Yuya opened his card lunchbox, before he looks at the inside of the top. On it was a picture of his dad, Yusho Sakaki, with his ace monster, Sky Magician. "Hey dad, how's it going?" Yuya talks to the picture. Zuzu and Ash,with their own lunchboxes, Ash's was courtesy of Yoko, looks at Yuya with smiles. "So, I'm gonna do it. I'm gonna sharpen my duel skills and become a pro like you. I'll entertain people, while chewing up the competition!" With that, he chows down with vigor, getting Ash and Zuzu to sweatdrop.

"Man, and here I thought I was a glutton when it comes to food." Ash says.

"You know, just because it's seafood, doesn't mean I want to see your food." Zuzu tells her tomato headed friend.

Just then, a handkerchief was offered to Zuzu, getting her and Ash to look up. It was a boy, presumably around Yuya and Zuzu's age, has short hair colored light brown and blonde, styled in layers, and has grayish blue eyes. His attire was the male Paradise Prep School's uniform. "Hi." He greets, getting Yuya's attention too.

Zuzu, however, looked less than thrilled to see him. "Go away Sylvio." She huffs, turning her head away.

"Sylvio? So this is the guy that tried to steal Yuya's cards." Ash mutters.

Sylvio puts the handkerchief away. "You know Yuya, I must say that your table manners are as elegant as your dueling. That is to say not at all." He insults.

"Says you! Now do you want something, or are you just here to annoy us?" Yuya questions, annoyed.

"If you are just here to annoy Yuya, then I suggest you walk away." Ash states cooly.

"What was that!?" Sylvio angrily questions, turning toward Ash.

"You heard me. And in case you were wondering, my name's Ash, what a pleasure to meet you." Ash says, the last part with heavy sarcasm.

"I know who you are new boy." Sylvio says.

"And I know how a real duelist should duel." Ash says coldly, getting Sylvio to wince a little.

He quickly composed himself, turning his head to the side. "Another duelist got ambushed today, people are saying you're the culprit." He states, looking at Yuya.

This makes the 3 friends look at him in shock, but Zuzu was quick to defend Yuya. "Then some people are wrong!" She then looks curious. "So, who was attacked?"

Sylvio looks at them with a serious face. "Professor Marco, he's a teacher at the Leo Institute. No one has heard from him since." Ash, Zuzu, and Yuya then thought back to Declan's abrupt departure from You Show the other day.

"That must be why Declan was in such a hurry to leave." Ash tells his friends, who nodded in agreement.

"You seem genuinely surprised to hear this." Sylvio says, bringing the attention back to him. "I had a feeling the rumors about you being involved were wrong. There's no way someone like you could get the best of someone like Marco, even with your cheap Pendulum Summoning."

Yuya looks offended about that. "Hang on. What's so cheap about about Pendulum Summoning?"

Sylvio leans forward. "Well for starters, you're the only one who has Pendulum cards. How is that fair?" Ash then chuckles at what he said. "What's so funny new kid?" Sylvio asks.

"I find it funny how hypocritical you talk about fairness, when after all, you tried to steal Yuya's cards." Ash, snorts.

"What?" Sylvio snarls.

"And by the way, he isn't the only one who can Pendulum Summon." Ash takes out his Pikachu and Bayleef cards, showing them to the arrogant boy.

Shock was an understatement, Sylvio looked utterly flabbergasted. "How? How on Earth did you manage to get Pendulum cards!?" He questions.

"I found them lying around." Ash simply says, getting Zuzu and Yuya to sweatdrop, thinking Sylvio will see right through it.

Fortunately, Sylvio was oblivious of it being a lie, as his hand slowly inched toward the cards. "Is it possible that I can, hold them for a sec?"

Ash quickly puts his cards away. "Sorry, but I don't let cheaters touch my cards. Yuya told me what you did."

"Damn." Sylvio tsked. He suddenly smirked. "No matter, that'll all change soon. I hear the Leo Corporation is starting to independently develop Pendulum cards now. I'll be the first in line when they release." He points at Yuya. "And then you and I are going to settle things." Then to Ash. "Then, I'm coming after you new kid. I'd say we can settle this in the Junior Arc League Championship, but we can't. Neither one of you are qualified to enter." Sylvio leaves with that.

"Not qualified to enter?" Yuya asks, confused. He then looks like he had a horrifying realization. "Woah, he's totally right! How am I supposed to become a pro now!?"

"Junior Arc League Championship?" Ash questions Zuzu.

The pinkette looks at the Pokemon trainer with a smile. "It's one of the 3 categories of Paradise's Championship. Depending on a person's age, they would be placed in one of 3 categories. For example, Youth, would be for kids like Ally, Tate, and Fredrick, and Junior, would be for teens like you, me, Yuya, Gong, and Sora. And people from all around the world will come and participate."

Ash looks in awe. "A tournament that shows what duelists are capable of? Awesome! It's just like back at home. Right Pikachu?" He asks, looking over his shoulder.

His backpack unzipped and Pikachu's head popped up. "Pika, Pikapi." He squeaks, grinning and nodding in agreement.

Later on, when school was over, Ash, Zuzu, and Yuya went to the front gate to meet up with Ally, Tate, and Fredrick. "Hey guys, our study group was canceled." Ally says.

"We are going to You Show." Fredrick adds.

"Do you guys wanna come with?" Tate asks. But their excitement was cut short, seeing Yuya in looking down in the dumps. This causes them to look concern. "Yuya, is something wrong?" Tate asks.

As they were walking down the sidewalk, Ash tells them what's wrong. "He isn't qualified to enter the Junior Arc League Championship."

"You cannot enter the Junior Arc League Championship?" Fredrick asks.

"Not this year. In order to be able to qualify and register, your yearly record has to show a minimum of 50 Junior Arc League sanctioned duels with at least a 60% win rate." Yuya explains.

"So what does your yearly record show?" Ally asks.

"46 duels, 26 wins."

Tate puts his hand to his temple, doing the math. "Let's see, 26 divided by 46. That's 56.5. That's not quite good enough."

"You're like a human calculator." Fredrick comments.

"But if you've only dueled 46 times, you still need 4 more to get to 50, and if you win all 4 of those duels, you'll have 30 wins, which is exactly 60%."

"That's what I told him." Zuzu says.

"We went around school to see if anyone wanted to duel him, but because of him beating the Sledgehammer guy, they thought he was a pro already, one guy even thought he'd get a free pass to enter." Ash explains.

"I'm not getting a free pass!" Yuya exclaims, before tears start rolling from his eyes. "People just don't get it, the Sledgehammer duel wasn't for his title, so winning didn't make me a pro."

"And to be a pro, you gotta do well in the Junior Championship." Tate says.

"And then there is the qualification test to enter the Senior Arc League." Fredrick adds.

"And then, you need enough wins there to take the pro test." Ally finishes.

Yuya clutches his head in frustration. "I've got a pro test for ya? Everyone thinks I'm a pro but I can't actually become a pro until I qualify, and I can't qualify, because no one will duel me, because everyone thinks I'm a pro!" He cries out. He then looks like he had an idea, before looking at his friends. "You said I need 4 more duels right?" He questions, counting the people in front of him. He then gets a creepy smile.

The others caught onto his plan, causing Ally to raise her hand in a stop motion, and Fredrick to cross his arms in an x. "Forget it." "No way." They both denied.

"Why not?" Yuya asks.

"We're in Elementary school, so we're in the Youth Arc League. You'll need to duel for Junior Arc Leaguers." Tate states.

"Uh, right, Junior Arc Leaguers. Like Zuzu."

But said pinkette quickly shot it down. "Not gonna happen Yuya."

"Why not!?" He asks, frustrated.

"Cause right now, I'm sitting at exactly 60%. No way am I gonna throw that away by losing to you. There's no point."

Yuya then looks over to Ash with hopeful eyes. "Ash, can you please duel me?" He begs.

He then became dismayed seeing his cap wearing friend shake his head. "Sorry Yuya, but no." Ash says adamantly.

"Not you too!"

"This is gonna be the first dueling tournament I'll be entering, and rivals like you and Zuzu should be saved until the championship actually starts. Along with that, you saw what I can do during my duel with Declan. These next duels could actually help you get stronger."

"Are you saying that I'm weaker than you!?" Yuya asks angrily.

"I also defeated you before with Pendulum Summoning." Ash deadpans, getting Yuya to sulk more.

"I guess you're right. But then who am i supposed to duel!?"

"Why don't you go talk to Gong about it?" Zuzu suggests. "He's the reason you're even close to the require 50 matches this year. All the tips and pointers he's thrown your way, not to mention all the dojo students he let you battle from his school."

Yuya just looks down at the ground. "I'm grateful for all of the help Gong's given, if it wasn't for Gong's training and support, I might of lost my duel against Dipper. And then after Zuzu lost, and our backs were really against the wall, Gong stepped up and manage to keep our school safe by tying Kit." He explains, getting everyone to stare at him in amazement. He then clenches his fist determinedly. "I've got to get strong enough to stand on my own two feet. I have to get better, starting today, there's no time like now."

"There's no time like now?" Zuzu repeats. She then smiles. "I gotta go." She starts running off, making the others confused.

"Huh, hey where are you off to all of a sudden?" Yuya asks.

"It's nothing, just things to do, and errands to pay, and bills to run." She quickly answers.

"Bills to wha?" Yuya questions.

"What about class?" Ally calls out.

"Tell my dad I can't make it today!" Zuzu calls back, disappearing from their sight.

"Anyone knows what that was about?" Yuya asks, a little confused as to what happened.

"No idea, but it actually reminds me, I can't make it either." Ash states, getting the others to look at him.

"Why not?" Ally asks.

"Because I need to get more duels so I can qualify for the championship myself."

"But you just got here and only managed to duel 4 times. First against that jerk, Suoh." Tate begins.

"Then me." Yuya sulks.

"Then that LID girl you told us kept you busy during the school duels." Ally says.

"And finally the president of the Leo Corporation, Declan Akaba himself." Fredrick finishes.

"Exactly, that's only 4 matches. You'd need to duel 46 more times, with at least a 60% win rate. And the championship is really close, there's no way you can get that many duels in time." Tate says, causing Ash to deflate a little.

"Hang on, there's actually another way he can enter the championship." Yuya says, getting everyone's attention.

"What do you mean another way?" Ash asks.

"There's actually an alternative requirement to enter the Junior Arc League Championship. You have to duel and win in 6 consecutive duels." Yuya explains.

"Six consecutive wins? That means I have to duel 6 times and not lose?"

"Yeah, so counting all the matches you've had so far and won, you only need to duel and win 2 more times."

"Got it! Thanks Yuya!" Ash thanks, running past the 3 kids and down the road.

"But wait! I didn't-" Yuya tries to call out, but Ash quickly disappeared. "Oh man." He sighs.

"Did you hear that Pikachu? I only need 2 more wins in order to qualify for the Junior Arc League Championship!" Ash says, excited of how close he was.

Pikachu's head popped out from his backpack. "Pika pi, Pikapi!" He says in agreement.

" **Woah, slow down there Ash."** Jaden says, as he and the other 2 appeared.

" **Yeah, if you don't calm down, chances are, you might run head first into something."** Yusei states.

" **Their right, and I'm speaking from experience."** Yuma adds.

Ash skids to a stop, rubbing his head sheepishly. "Sorry, I just got excited learning how close I am to entering the championship." He apologizes.

" **Still, you should always be aware of your surroundings, Lord Ash."** A deep baritone voice states. Ash turns around to see the transparent figures of Stardust Dragon, Number 39: Utopia, and Elemental Hero Neos Knight, Stardust being the one who spoke.

" **Yes, you may never know what or who is around you before it's too late, Master Ash."** Utopia says in a gravelly voice.

" **Gotta agree with them there Boss."** Neos Knight agrees in a gruff voice.

"Ok, ok, I get it, I should pay more attention in the future." Ash he looked annoyed. "And what did I tell you guys about calling me those things?" What he was referring to was when he was officially introduced to the 3 new spirits last night.

 _Flashback_

 _At the Sakaki house, Ash, all his pokemon, and Yuya were having a big celebratory dinner in celebration of Ash saving the You Show Duel School, the dinner being a courtesy by Yoko. After the meal, Ash and his pokemon were in the former's temporary bedroom. Ash was telling his other pokemon about his duel with Declan, including summoning his mentors aces, Pikachu added in his opinion at certain points. His pokemon that weren't there were either in awe or was intrigued about how it happened. After he was done explaining the duel, Greninja asked a question. "Gre grenin, ninja?"_

" _You're asking about the vision I had before I summoned those monsters?" Ash repeats, getting a nod. Ash blinks and looks thoughtful. "You know, I was actually curious about that too, but didn't have time to think about it. Maybe Yuma, Yusei, and Jaden knows." He then proceeded to contact them._ "Hey, guys, you there?" _He asks telepathically._

 _The 3 spirits came out of his soul, causing some of his pokemon to jump, still not used to seeing them pop up out of nowhere._ " _ **Hey Ash. What's up?"**_ _Yuma asks._

" _I actually wanted to ask you guys about something." Ash says._

" _ **Ask away."**_ _Jaden says._

" _When I was dueling Declan, I… had this vision, and I saw some figures there. They kind of looked like your aces now that I think about it."_

 _The veteran duelists look at each other, before smiling and turned back to him._ " _ **This question, would be more suited for these 3."**_ _Yusei says, confusing the trainer and pokemon. Suddenly, a flash of light appeared, blinding them. As their vision returned, they opened their eyes, widening upon seeing the spirits of Stardust Dragon, Utopia, and Neos Knight, next to their respective duelists._

" _Woah." Ash breathes out in awe, a feeling shared by his pokemon._

" _ **It is good to officially meet you, Master Ash."**_ _Utopia greets._

" _ **Yeah, it's been a long time coming for us to meet you Boss."**_ _Neos Knight follows up._

" _ **Indeed, and hopefully we will work greatly together to save the dimensions under your leadership, Lord Ash."**_ _Stardust finishes._

" _Were you the ones who gave me that vision?" Ash asks, receiving nods from the new spirits. "Why?"_

" _ **It was to let you know that we believed you are worthy of using our power."**_ _Neos Knight states._

" _I'm worthy? How?"_

" _ **You use the power of your bonds with your friends to help you through tough battles, along with that you are willing to put others well being before your own."**_ _Utopia starts explaining._

" _ **Even if those others aren't a part of your own world, and finally, you believe in your cards to give you the strength to help save the innocent from malevolent forces, and that's what makes you worthy."**_ _Stardust finishes._

 _Ash was silent for a moment, before a smile came up on his face. "It's nice to know you guys think that, and I promise I'll make sure your faith in me is not misplaced. Hopefully, we can become good friends too." He promises, getting his pokemon and his mentors to smile, while the monster spirits nodded in approval. Ash then frowned. "Although, do you mind not calling me those things when you appeared. You know, 'Boss', 'Lord', and 'Master'? I don't really like being called things like that."_

" _ **Very well Milord./As you command Master Ash./You got it Boss."**_ _The 3 spirits replies, getting Ash to sigh while the rest laugh at his expense._

Flashback end

"Anyways, I wonder if there are any good opponents around here?" Ash asks, looking around for potential opponents.

" **I think we should worry about bigger things right now Lord Ash."** Stardust states.

"What do you mean Stardust?"

" **He means that we should focus on finding that Xyz duelist that protected your friend from that Sylvio jerk."** Neos Knight says.

Ash looks down in thought. "Good point, maybe we can find answers on why he did that and why he looks like Yuya."

" **I'm more curious of what he's doing here, in Standard, along with if he's alone."** Utopia adds his thoughts.

" **Yeah, they could've been the ones who attacked that professor guy that Sylvio told you about."** Yuma states.

" **Question is, why are they targeting people associated with LID?"** Yusei asks, narrowing his eyes.

"Pika." Pikachu agrees.

Jaden then looks behind Ash, seeing a familiar pinkette approaching. " **We can figure it out later. Right now Ash, you got a visitor."** He says, pointing behind the trainer.

Confused, Ash turns around, and was surprised seeing Zuzu approach him. "Zuzu? What are you doing here?" He asks.

"I actually wanted to ask if you can do a favor for me." Zuzu says, fidgeting nervously.

Ash and Pikachu traded a curious glance, before looking back at her. "Uh sure. What do you need?"

Zuzu takes a step forward, breathes deeply… and bows with her hands clasped in front of her. "Please teach me Fusion Summoning!" She begs, surprising Ash, Pikachu, and the mentors.

"Wait, what? You want me to teach you Fusion Summoning?" Ash asks, getting a vigorous nod in response. "Why?"

"Well… you know how I lost the duel against Julia?" Zuzu asks, standing up straight, but kept looking down at the ground

"Yeah, the Fusion specialist from LID. But you tried your best, that's what matters, and we still saved You Show." Ash tries to comfort his friend.

"And I'm glad we did, but I'm still disappointed that I let Julia beat me so easily." Zuzu replies, looking back at him.

"That wasn't your fault!"

"Easy for you to say! You didn't meet that Yuya look alike!"

"If I did, I wouldn't let it bug me so much, especially during a duel!" Ash retorts honestly. "Anyway, why do you want to know Fusion Summoning?"

Zuzu sighs, leaving her hands to hang by her sides. "So I can get better at protecting You Show Duel School and my friends. So I decided the best way to do that, would be to learn Fusion Summoning." She explains.

"That's awesome Zuzu!" Ash says with a big grin.

"Pikachu." Pikachu agrees, a grin matching his trainer's.

"Thanks you guys. But I don't know how to use Fusion Summoning."

"Oh."

Zuzu then grips the hem of her skirt, looking down at the ground nervously. "And since you were a Fusion user, I thought that... maybe you could... teach me how to."

Ash and Pikachu look astonished to what she said, before the former scratches his head sheepishly. "Wow, I'd be honored to Zuzu, but… I'm new to Fusion Summoning too. There's not much I can teach you when I don't know much myself."

"Oh, ok I understand." Zuzu sighs sadly.

"And besides, I don't think I would make a good teacher anyway." Ash admits with a chuckle.

"Pika, chu Pikapi." Pikachu snickers, getting a mock glare from Ash.

"Thanks for the confidence boost buddy." He thanks sarcastically, getting Pikachu to laugh more, even Zuzu giggled at their bantering. Ash then turned back to Zuzu. "Anyways, why not ask Sora? He is the one who best knows Fusion Summoning out of all of us." " _No offense Jaden, Neos Knight."_ He says, before talking telepathically to his Fusion mentor and ace.

" **None taken."** The 2 shrugs it off.

"I was actually gonna ask him next."

Ash then looks curious. "Wait, then why ask me to teach you then?" He asks.

Zuzu then blushes, before trying to change the subject. "I better go find Sora!" She exclaims, turning around and walking away.

"Hey wait up! I'm coming with you!" Ash exclaims, catching up to her.

"Why?" Zuzu asks, confused.

"I just think that Sora can also teach me a few things about Fusion Summoning too."

"What about qualifying for the Junior Arc League Championship?"

"It's ok, I have plenty of time. I just need 2 more wins in order to enter." With that, the 2 went on to look for their sweet loving friend.

 **(15 minutes later)**

With Zuzu in the lead, the duo found themselves in front of the LID building, where they found Sora just hanging around the entrance. "I knew it!" Zuzu exclaims, getting Sora's attention as they stopped in front of him. "You stopped showing up to the You Show School because you're trying to cozy up to Declan Akaba." She accuses.

"N-No way, you got the wrong idea here." Sora denies.

"You're a slimy little weasel aren't you? You just try to latch onto whoever you think will make you duel better."

Sora blushes a little in embarrassment and rubs his head sheepishly with a chuckle. "But Declan seems so cool. He's using Fusion, Synchro, Xyz, and Pendulum! Think of how much he could teach me!" He exclaims cheerfully. He then looks at Ash. "And not to forget you Ash! You can do all of those summonings too! You are just as awesome as he is!"

Ash blushes upon receiving the praise. "Uh, thanks Sora."

"Ok but, I thought you wanted to learn at our school." Zuzu says.

Sora looked down dejectedly. "I was thinking you guys didn't like me."

"No way, we love you! Anyway, come on!" Zuzu exclaims, grabbing his hand and drags him away, Ash following right behind them. "We need your help with something important." Unbeknownst to them, a gray eyed figure was watching them.

Later, Ash and Zuzu led Sora to one of the warehouses near the wharf. "So why did you bring me here?" He asks them as Zuzu closes the door and Pikachu pops up from Ash's backpack. "Hey Pikachu." Sora greets the mouse.

"Pika." Pikachu greets back, waving a paw.

Zuzu then walks up to the light blue haired boy, before going to the same begging position she was in earlier. "Sora, I need you to teach me Fusion Summoning." She begs.

"Here? Right now?" Sora asks.

"Yeah."

"I don't know."

"I really need help! I need to be a better duelist!"

"I get it. You're still burning for losing against that Leo Institute girl. Right?"

"That's right." Ash answers. "Even though I beated Declan, it wasn't enough to cheer her up."

"Ash was strong enough to beat Declan, and I'm worried they'll come back to try again. And if they do, I really want stand up with both him and Yuya, and help them defend the school." She looks at Sora. "That's where you come in."

"You called me a 'slimy little weasel.' Remember?" Sora reminds her.

"Right." She bows again. "It came out wrong, I'm sorry!"

Sora looked thoughtful. "I just don't know." He then looks at Ash. "What about you? Did you want me to teach you too?"

"I just wanted to ask for some tips on how to Fusion Summon fast, I may know how to, but I'm not quite a master of it yet." Ash says.

"But you managed to perform a Fusion Summon with a Spell Card as one of the materials, that's an advanced technique. Plus you already know the basics of it. What else can there be to explain?"

"Isn't there any other ways to Fusion Summon?"

"Well… I still don't know." Sora says, looking thoughtful again.

"Please Sora." Zuzu begs.

"It's not that I can't teach you… I'm not sure I should, cause if I do teach you guys, your dueling will improve." Sora says.

Zuzu stands straight, her, Ash, and even Pikachu deadpanning at that statement. "Well yeah of course, you teach us, and we get better." Zuzu says.

"Come on Sora." Ash says.

"Fine." Sora sighs, none of them aware of the figure looking at them from behind a crate.

With that, Sora starts explaining the basics to Zuzu, even handing her a Polymerization card, while giving Ash tips on other ways to Fusion Summon. Just then Pikachu's ears twitched, and looked around, Ash taking notice. "What's up Pikachu?"

Pikachu then looks at the crate and saw the figure at the same time as Sora. "Pikapi!" Pikachu exclaims, pointing at the figure as he jumped over the crate as Sora gave chase, jumping up a crate. Sora slipped his Duel Disk on as he chased the figure. As the figure reached the wall, he jumped onto it and propelled himself forward, activating his Duel Disk which had a purple blade, as Sora activated his blue bladed Duel Disk.

Not wanting to let his friend fight alone, Ash looked at Pikachu. "Pikachu use Iron Tail!" He commanded.

"Pika!" Pikachu nodded and jumped forward, his tail taking on a metal sheen before he swung it and it clashed with the Duel Disk blades. After a brief struggle, the 3 combatants landed and jumped backwards to gain distance from each other, with Pikachu landing back on Ash's shoulder, and Sora and the figure, who turned out to be a boy from what Ash can see, had their Duel Disks raised, Ash noting how different the other boy's Disk was from the others he's seen.

"Talk, who are you?" Ash orders, stepping forward to stand beside Sora, Pikachu's cheeks sparking.

The boy was silent. Then Sora, with a knowing smile, asked. "You're not from around here, right?"

The boy actually responded. "Neither are you." He then glances at Ash and Pikachu. "Along with your friend and his pet."

"Pika." Pikachu growls, offended.

"Hey!" Zuzu exclaims, catching everyone's attention. "Hang on, I know you!"

"You do?" Ash asks.

"So who is he then?" Sora follows up.

"He dueled Sylvio, and beat him." This causes Ash's eyes to widen and look at the boy again.

' _So this is the guy who produced that strong Xyz energy that Yuma sensed.'_ He thought with narrowed eyes. As he was staring, he unknowingly accessed Jaden's powers again, changing his eyes colors again. Like last time, everything else blurred out, except the boy, who was surrounded by a dark aura just like Yuya, surprising Ash enough that he snapped out of his trance.

"So was this latest incident your doing too?" Zuzu accuses.

The boy was silent as as Sora looks at her. "Latest incident? What?" He asks, confused.

"We were told that a Leo Institute teacher was just attack, which is the reason that they upped the security at Leo Corp." Ash explains, having saw the extra guards at the entrance when he and Zuzu got Sora.

"Really now? I was wondering why security was so tight. Well you've got a lot of explaining to do." Sora states pointing at the boy, who was only silent.

"How about we start with who you are?" Zuzu starts. "Why'd you duel Sylvio? What are you up to? What's you're problem with Leo Corp?"

Just then, they heard the door open behind them. "Answer the questions!" A voice demands, getting them to turn around, seeing it was Julia.

"Julia." Zuzu says, surprised at seeing her.

Ash's eyes widen in alarm, before looking at Pikachu. "Pikachu, hide!" He whispers frantically. The mouse quickly complied, hopping back into the back pack.

"Who are you and what did you do to Professor Marco?" Julia demands, walking further in.

"This is turning into a real party." Zuzu comments, but Julia ignored her.

"I'm gonna ask you one more time, where is he?" She repeats, pulling her Duel Disk out. After a moment of silence, she slipped it on. "Alright, if you don't want to talk, then maybe you'll want to duel."

Zuzu steps in front of her spreading her arms apart. "Hang on, you can't just barge in here and start dem-"

"Get out of the way wannabe!" Julia rudely cuts her off.

"Did you just call me a- look you only think he's involved with your missing professor, but you-" Zuzu was once again cut off.

"I'll know he's involved when we duel and he starts Xyz Summoning." Julia says, pointing at the boy.

"Xyz Summoning? Oh, interesting." Sora says.

As the boy kept his silence, Julia activates her Duel Disk. "You'll be talking soon enough when I'm through with you. Come on let's do this."

But she was stopped, this time by Ash. "Look, I know you want to get answers, but you're not gonna get them if you let your anger control you, you need to calm down."

Just then a bright light came from Zuzu's bracelet, blinding everyone. As the light subsided, everyone was shocked seeing the boy gone. "Great, he's gone." Julia says, angered that her one lead escaped.

"He… he disappeared, just like last time." Zuzu mutters.

"Zuzu! You in there!?" Yuya's voice sounded out.

"Yuya?" Zuzu questions as they all looked to the entrance, seeing the Dueltainer there, catching his breathe.

"Oh, good. Everyone was totally worried, and you weren't answering your phone, and… and I'm really sorry if I made you feel unappreciated earlier." Yuya says.

"I get it now. You teamed up with him and helped him escape!" Julia accuses.

"Woah, Julia!?" Yuya says, surprised to see the LID Fusionist. "And Sora and Ash?"

Julia marches up to him and grabbed his shirt. "Talk. What have you done with Professor Marco?" She demands.

"Nothing!" Yuya replies.

"Don't play dumb, I know you're working with him!"

"Working with who?" Zuzu and Ash runs up and forcefully separates them.

Ash looks at Yuya. "The guy who dueled Sylvio showed up again." He explains briefly.

"He did? So where is he?" Yuya asks.

Zuzu looks at her bracelet. "He vanished right before you showed up, just like before." She replies, getting Yuya to look curious.

"That's weird."

Julia raises her fist. "You know something, don't you?" She questions.

"Hey there he goes!" Sora exclaims, getting their attention as they see him pointing in a direction. "Over there! He's up on the rooftop! You better hurry up and chase him before he gets away!"

Julia pushes Yuya out of the way. "Out of my way Yuya!" She says, running off in the direction Sora pointed.

When she was far enough away, Ash, Yuya, and Zuzu looks at their friend. "So who'd ya see?" Yuya asks.

"No one." Sora replies. "I just wanted to get rid of Julia so we can get back to training."

"Training?" Yuya asks in surprise, looking in between his 3 friends. "You, Ash, and Zuzu?"

"Yeah, well for Zuzu mostly, they asked me to help with-" Sora says, before cutting himself off and looking at the 2 in question, with Zuzu looking at her bracelet. "Wait, is it supposed to be a secret that you wanted me to teach you Fusion Summoning?"

"Fusion Summoning?" Yuya asks as Zuzu looks back up, before back at her bracelet. "Is this for the Junior Arc League Championship?" Sora looks surprised. "That reminds me, I totally found my next four opponents. Actually, that's not true, but I found the guy who's gonna find them. Nico Smiley said he would hook me up."

"Yeah? Good for you." Zuzu smiles.

"Yeah that's awesome Yuya." Ash grins as Pikachu pops out from his backpack.

"Pikachu." He squeaks in agreement.

"Thanks, now I just got to win them all." He pumps his fist with a grin. "And if I do that, it's championship time."

"Hey Yuya." Sora says, getting his attention. "What's this championship you keep mentioning? Can I enter it too?"

"Uh, I don't know Sora. Have you dueled at least 50 times since coming to town? Cause you need 50 duels and 30 wins to enter." Yuya says.

"That many?" Sora asks in disbelief, before whining. "No fair! How come nobody ever wants to let me have any fun!?"

"Actually there's another way Sora." Ash states, getting the young boy to look at him. "Yuya told me that if someone wins 6 duels in a row, they can qualify. I only need 2 more so I can enter."

Sora beams in excitement. "Oh yeah!? Alright! Taking down 6 chumps in a row? That'll be easy! Do you think you can have that Nico Smiley guy to line up the opponents for me? Then I could just knock 'em down."

"Sure thing." He then looked at Ash. "Do you want me to do the same for you Ash?"

Surprisingly, the trainer shook his head. "Thanks for the offer, but I prefer to find my opponents on my own." He says.

"Oh, ok if you're sure." Yuya then looks at Zuzu, who was still looking at her bracelet. After a few moments, Yuya breaks the silence. "Well, I think we should get back before the others worried some more." Sora and Zuzu nods, but Ash didn't.

"You guys go on ahead, I'm just gonna wanna enjoy the ocean view for a few minutes. Don't worry, I'll be fine." With reluctant nods from the others, they left as Ash and Pikachu looks the ocean. When the others were no longer in sight, Ash's spirit partners appeared. "Well, that was something." Ash comments about the craziness from earlier.

" **Yeah, talk about a fiasco."** Jaden agrees.

" **Now we're left with more questions then answers."** Yusei says.

" **Yeah, like, what's up with Zuzu's bracelet and that disappearing act?"** Yuma asks.

" **It appears that there is some sort of connection between Yuya, Zuzu, and that other boy."** Utopia notes.

" **Yes, that boy had a similar darkness surround him, just like your Yuya friend, Lord Ash."** Stardust adds.

" **Overall, something dark is happening around here, we should keep our eyes and ears open."** Neos Knight finishes.

"Pikapi, pika chu, chu pi, kachu pika." Pikachu agrees.

"Yeah." Ash nods, before silence enveloped them. "Anyways, I should catch up with the others before they worry about where I am." Just as he turns around, a bright light appeared, blinding Ash and Pikachu. As the light subsided, the duo sees in front of them a two wheeled white vehicle that looks like a motorcycle. On top of it was the rider, who wears a white jacket with red borders and yellow stripes on the sleeves, along with a white jumpsuit that has red, blue, and yellow stripes that meet in the center in a chevron pattern, white gloves, shoulder, elbow and knee pads, and white, red, and gray boots. He also wears a white helmet. As Ash was staring at him, his eyes changed colors again. The world blurred around him as he saw only the rider, who was surrounded by a dark aura that matched Yuya's and the boy from before. Ash shakes his head, snapping out of it. ' _Again? This is the 3rd time this happened._ ' He thinks.

"Oh man, now where am I?" The rider, who was male from what Ash could tell, asked aloud, looking around. He then pulls out a card and looks at it. "Now where have you taken me?"

"Hey!" Ash calls out, getting the rider's attention, Pikachu back in his backpack. "You ok?"

"Yeah, I'm just a little lost. Can you tell me where I am?"

"You're in Paradise City."

"Paradise City huh?" He looks at the card again. "Why did you bring me here?" He questions the card. The rider looks back up at Ash. "Thanks, uh…" He trails off, not knowing his name.

"My name's Ash Ketchum, what's your's?" Ash says with a smile. The rider proceeded to take his helmet off. And what Ash saw shocked him. It wasn't his his blue and yellow dual toned hair that shocked Ash, nor his greenish blue eyes. It was his face that shocks Ash. "Yuya!?" He asks in shock, seeing the face of his best Standard friend.

The boy looked annoyed. "Who's Yuya?" He points at himself. "The name's Yugo."

"Yugo?" Ash repeats, confused.

"What are you, deaf? Yes, it's Yugo!" The boy, Yugo, exclaims rudely.

"Hey, sorry, you just look like a friend of mine." Ash defends himself.

"Really? Can he duel as good as me?" Yugo smirks.

Ash tilts his head in curiosity, not knowing how to answer that. " **Ash./Lord Ash."** Yusei and Stardust says as they appears.

" _Yusei? Stardust? What's up?"_ Ash asks telepathically, curious as to why his Synchro mentor and his ace came back out.

" **That vehicle that kid is on? It's a Duel Runner."** Yusei informs.

" **Which means he's from the Synchro Dimension."** Stardust adds.

"A Duel Runner!?" Ash couldn't help but exclaim aloud.

"Oh so you know about Duel Runners huh?" Yugo smirks, as he pats the side of his Runner. "Yeah, this beaut is my Duel Runner, it can let me duel against other people while I ride the wind, which is common from where I'm from."

"What about if they have a Duel Runner too?"

"I challenge them to a Turbo Duel, duh."

"A Turbo Duel, huh? Wish I could be in one of those." Ash says with a smile.

" **Careful, it may come sooner than expected."** Yusei smirks.

"Well then why don't you?" Yugo questions.

"I don't have a Duel Runner, they aren't really common here." Ash informs.

"I know just where to get one." Yugo counters, putting his helmet on.

"Why- oh I just got challenged, didn't I?" Ash asks, realizing what just happened.

" **Indeed./Big time."** Stardust and Yusei confirms.

"Hell yeah. And I know the perfect spot to do it." Suddenly, the light came back and started engulfing Yugo and his Runner. "Perfect timing!"

"What's going-" Ash was cut off as Yugo grabbed his wrist, as the light engulfed both of them.

(Unknown Location)

As the light subsided, Ash regained his vision shortly after. He saw that he and Yugo were now in the middle of a highway. In the distance, he saw clean, pristine buildings on a bunch of raised platforms, various connecting highways, and below, he saw beaten down houses and streets. Frowning, Ash yanked his arm out of Yugo's grip. "Why did you grab me like that?" He asks.

"It was the only way I knew how to bring you with me." Yugo states.

"Where is here anyway?"

Yugo grins. "This is my home. Welcome to New Domino City."

Ash's eyes widened in shock. "New Domino City!?" He asks in shock. He then felt felt something squirming in his backpack, until Pikachu's head popped up. "You ok Pikachu?" He glances back at his partner.

"Pika Pikapi." Pikachu whispers in assurance.

"Whoa, what's that thing!?" Yugo exclaims, having spotted Pikachu when Ash turned his head. The duo froze, having forgotten that Yugo was there with them.

Ash sighs, seeing that it was too late to lie. "Well… let's just say we're not really from Paradise City." He replies.

"Yeah, no kidding. So what is this thing, a pet?" Yugo asks, having moved to stand beside Ash, poking Pikachu's cheek, annoying the rat Pokemon greatly.

"No, Pikachu's a Pokemon, and he's my best friend. Also, if I were you, I'd stop doing what you're doing." Ash nervously says, noticing Pikachu's cheeks sparking.

"Why?" Yugo asks, poking Pikachu with both his index fingers.

This causes Pikachu to finally snap. "Piiiiiiiikaaaaa… chhhhhhuuuuuu!" He exclaims, releasing a powerful Thunderbolt, literally shocking the 2 teens. Eventually he ceased, the light clearing up, revealing both boys to be completely burnt and electricity moving along their bodies.

Yugo coughed and stumbles backwards. "That was… ecstatic." He says, deliriously, before falling backwards and onto his Duel Runner, causing it to tip over.

Ash coughs out. "I told you not to." He states.

Pikachu, realizing what he did, smiled sheepishly. "Pika, pika chu pi, Pikapi." He apologizes to the 2 boys, bowing his head.

Ash shakes the electricity and soot off. "It's ok Pikachu." He assures. He then looks at Yugo, who was getting his Duel Runner back up. "You ok Yugo?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." The Turbo Duelist waves off the concern, checking his Runner for damage. When that was done, he turned back to the duo, specifically Pikachu. "That was some power little guy." He grins.

Pikachu puffs his chest out in pride. "Pika pi chu pika." He says.

"So exactly what is a Pokemon?" Yugo asks Ash in confusion.

Ash then went on and told Yugo the same stuff he told everyone at You Show, same with leaving out some specific details. At the end, Yugo was looking at Ash with a pitying expression. "I'm sorry that you guys can't go home. Hopefully you can find a way back soon." He says.

Ash and Pikachu give sad smiles. "Thanks Yugo, that means a lot." "Pika." They both thanked their new friend.

Yugo returns the smile, before it turned into a full on grin. "So, you said you can carry 6 Pokemon, right?" He asks, getting a nod in return. "Which means you have 5 others right?" Again, Ash nodded. "Can I see them!?" Yugo asks in excitement.

Ash looks thoughtful for a moment, before smiling. "Sure Yugo, I'll show you my other Pokemon." Just as Yugo was about to cheer, Ash's smile turned mischievous. "But only if you can beat me in our duel." Yugo looks confused for a second, before he looked like he remembered something.

"Oh yeah, I promised to show you how Turbo Duels worked." He says, having forgotten in the excitement. He looks around before cursing. "Damn, this isn't where I wanted to go." Ignoring the confused looks he got from Ash and Pikachu, he reached into a side compartment of his Runner, pulling out a multi colored helmet (guess the colors) before tossing it to Ash, who quickly caught it

Ash looks at it, before back at him. "What's this for?"

"Well, the friend that brought us here didn't bring us to the place I wanted to go to, so we gotta ride the rest of the way on my Duel Runner." Yugo explains, getting on his Duel Runner.

"So… we got to ride on your Runner… together?" Ash awkwardly asks, getting Pikachu to snicker.

"Yeah, I know, this ain't a picnic for me either, but it's either this, or walking, which could take an hour or 2."

Ash looks conflicted for a minute, before sighing and putting on the helmet. "Please let this be quick." He mutters as he got on, Pikachu going back into his backpack.

"Ok, now hang on tight!" Yugo instructs, which Ash did, via awkwardly wrapping his arms around Yugo's waist. With that, Yugo accelerated forward, shooting down the highway.

As they were speeding down the highway, Ash couldn't help but enjoy the ride, even if the seating was a little awkward. The wind blowing into his face actually got him more and more excited about riding on a Duel Runner, and having a Turbo Duel for the first time. 'Man, this is so awesome! Is this the rush that Yusei felt when he Turbo Dueled? If so, then I can't wait.' He thinks with a grin. It soon disappears though and focuses on Yugo. 'Although, Yugo said that a friend brought us here, but I didn't see anyone else. Just who was he talking about?'

Meanwhile, Yugo was looking at a circular pad on his Duel Runner, having his own thoughts. 'I don't get it. Why did you bring me to that city? Was it so I can meet Ash? What's so special about him?' He thinks to himself.

Ash then looks around, specifically at the pristine buildings on the pillars, and the run down buildings below. 'It's just like how Yusei told me about the New Domino City and the Satellite before they united. Is the same thing happening here?' He thinks, a little saddened thinking about the hardships that they must go through.

 **(15 minutes later)**

After the short drive, Yugo eventually came to a stop in front of an alley in the lower parts of the city. In the alley, was a white sheet, that looked as if it was covering a motorcycle up. "Here we are. And it's still here." Yugo says, him and Ash getting off the Duel Runner, with Pikachu popping up from the latter's backpack.

"What's that?/Pika?" Ash and Pikachu question in unison.

"Isn't it obvious?" Yugo asks back, walking up and pulling the sheet off. What was revealed was shocking to the trainer and pokemon. What they saw was the 2nd Duel Runner that Yusei had built after Jack stole the first one. Except it was different in some areas. For one the paint job wasn't just red with white stripes, it was actually a combination of red, blue, white, and black. Along with that, there was a circular pad like Yugo's in the center where the Duel Disk slot was.

"No way! Another Duel Runner!?/Pika!?" The duo asks in shock.

"You are just a master at stating the obvious aren't you?" Yugo jokes.

"Why did you leave it here of all places, where anyone can just take it?"

"To be honest, it isn't mine, per se. I just found it here recently, all beaten up, as if someone just dumped it here. I decided to give it some tune ups, see if I could get it working again." Yugo explains.

"Wait, recently? It looks as if it's brand new!" Ash says in shock.

"You'd be surprised as to what you can find down here."

Ash gazes at the Runner before looking back at Yugo. "And you're lending it to me?"

"You can keep it if you want it." Yugo simply replies, stunning both Ash and Pikachu.

"Really, why?"

"Eh, I never wanted it in the first place, I just used it to make sure my engineering skills don't get rusty, I was actually gonna take it apart again. But now that you're here and want to have a Turbo Duel, you get the Runner, and making it easier for me to get rid of it, so that's a win-win in my book." Yugo grins.

Ash grins back. "Thanks Yugo, I'll be sure to return the favor someday." He promises.

Yugo waves it off. "Don't worry about it. Now let's get this duel on the road!"

Ash nods, before looking sheepish. "Um, before we go, I still have one question… how am I supposed to get on?" He asks scratching his head.

Yugo walks over and put his hand on the handlebar. "Simple, you just lift it up like this." He instructs, simply raising the attachment.

"Oh." Ash lets out, feeling pretty stupid for asking something so obvious. This also causes Pikachu to snicker. Ash then gets on it, and put the attachment back to his side after Yugo let go.

Yusei then appeared beside him. " **Ash, I'm gonna instruct you on how to work a Duel Runner, so listen carefully."** Yusei says firmly. Ash gives a discreet nod as Yusei starts instructing him on how to work a Duel Runner. Following the instructions, Ash places both of his hands on the handlebars, and twisted them like how he saw the Officer Jennys do it, making the engine rev up loudly.

Ash smiles in excitement. "This sounds great!" He exclaims to Yugo over the noise. He then stopped twisting, making the revving die down. "I'll make sure not to disappoint you in our duel."

"That's good to hear." Yugo gives his own excited smile. He then ran over to his Duel Runner and got on it, retracting the kickstand back with his foot. "Follow me! I know the perfect place to duel! And don't fall off!" He shifts and revs his Duel Runner before shooting off past Ash.

As he does, Ash retracts the Duel Runner kickstand up, and still supports it with his leg. After hearing Yugo's comment about falling off, he grips the handlebars harder. "Easier said than done." Ash nervously states.

"Pikapi, pikachu pika chu pi." Pikachu assures his trainer not to worry.

" **Hey don't worry about it, I'll help you through on how to work a Duel Runner. Just follow my instructions and you'll do great."** Yusei assures his host.

Taking a deep breathe to calm his nerves, Ash looks at Yusei gratefully. "Thanks Yusei." He thanks his Synchro mentor. Smiling, Yusei then gives Ash instructions on how to ride a Duel Runner. After Yusei went over everything and Pikachu went back into his backpack, Ash twists the handlebars again, revving the engine again, before pushing the hand grip to the right, which shifted the Runner in the same direction and forward, following Yugo. As he goes forward, he starts to wobble a bit. "Steady, steady." He mutters, trying to straighten out. Eventually, he managed to keep it straight, getting him to grin in excitement and accomplishment. "Hey, I'm starting to get the hang of this! Let's kick it up a notch!" With that, he twisted one of the handlebars and picked up some more speed. The wind whipping at his face actually made him feel more and more exhilarated. He steadily increases the acceleration, getting to a point where he is now riding side by side with Yugo. He grins. ' _Man, this is so awesome, no wonder why people of this dimension enjoy Turbo Dueling.'_

" **Looks like someone is having fun."** Jaden says, as he and the other spirits came out, floating beside Ash.

" **I wish we had Turbo Dueling during my time."** Yuma sulks, looking like he wanted to ride the Duel Runner.

" **I actually can't wait to see how well you do the dueling part Boss."** Neos Knight states.

" **I advise you to be careful, Master Ash. If the duel gets too rough, an accident could happen."** Utopia expresses his concern.

" _Don't worry Utopia, Yusei gave me a thorough lecture about how to handle a Duel Runner, especially when dueling."_ Ash says telepathically.

" **I'm actually impressed Milord, you have made a staggering amount of progress with riding a Duel Runner in such a short amount of time."** Stardust compliments, sounding astounded.

" _I had an excellent teacher."_ Ash says, looking at Yusei.

" **Don't go giving praise just yet Ash. Your true test is about to begin."** Yusei advises, he and the other spirits go back into Ash's soul.

Meanwhile, Yugo looks at Ash as he was talking with his spirits. "Wow, this guy must be a prodigy. He's handling that Duel Runner like a pro, even though this is his first time." He mutters. Then he looks at his Duel Disk. "Why did you bring me to see him?"

 **(A few minutes later)**

The riding duo eventually found themselves on a ovular track course with some construction equipment around it, but it all looks abandoned. "What is this place?" Ash asks.

"It used to be an old Duel Chaser training course, for Security personal who wanted to be Duel Chasers. There was an accident some years back, which they were fixing, but they suddenly just abandoned this place all together." Yugo explains. He had explained what the society of the Synchro Dimension was like to Ash when he asked, the Tops, Commons, and Security. "This makes it a perfect place to Duel, because of how out of the way it is, which means no one can see us. By the way, how are you liking your Duel Runner?"

Ash grins. "It's awesome! The speed, the wind, it just got me more pumped for this Duel!" He replies in excitement.

"That's what it's like when you use a Duel Runner, you become one with the wind."

"And I have you to thank for giving me the chance to."

"No thanks needed man. You are lot more different than my other opponents."

"How so?"

"Well, I'm pretty sure by now you know that I have a short fuse?"

"Really? I haven't noticed." Ash jokes sarcastically with a grin.

Yugo chuckles at that. "Nice one, smart guy. Anyways, unlike the others, you didn't fight back. Matter of fact, you're the first person I ever officially challenged a Duel to. And with your interest in Turbo Dueling and Duel Runners, I decided to give you that Runner. Thought you could be the first one from a different a city to try Turbo Dueling for the first time."

"That's really nice of you, thanks."

"Don't mention it. Now then, ready to experience the thrill of Turbo Dueling? You have a deck?"

"You bet." Ash answers, taking out his deck and putting it into the deck shuffler. Then he looked confused. "Wait, what about Speed Spells?"

Yugo now looks confused. "Speed what now?"

Yusei appears. " **Looks like the rules of Turbo Dueling are just like regular Dueling now, which means no Speed Spells."** He notes.

" _Seems so."_ Ash says as Yusei disappears. He then activates the pad on the Duel Runner, making a blade like his regular Duel Disk appear.

Yugo followed suit, a green wing like blade appearing. "First one to make it to the first curve gets the first turn." He explains, pointing at said curve ahead.

Ash follows where his finger is pointing at and nods. "Sounds fair to me."

"Alright, on my mark, we both go, ok?" Yugo instructs, getting another nod in response. They both then revved up their engines. "Ready… set… GO!" With a screech of tires against the pavement, the 2 Duel Runners shot forward.

"LET'S DUEL!" Yugo and Ash exclaim in unison.

 **(Ash LP: 4000 hand x5)**

 **(Yugo LP: 4000 hand x5)**

The 2 were neck in neck for awhile, but then Ash wobbled a bit, which gave Yugo the chance to push forward and make the turn. "Looks like the first turn is mine! To start, since I have no monsters on my field, I can summon Speedroid Terrortop!" A chain of tops surrounded by yellow electricity, appeared. **(1200/600 lvl: 3)** "Next I summon the tuner monster, Speedroid Tri Eyed Dice!" A pyramid with eyes on it's sides appeared next. **(300/1500 lvl: 3)**

Ash's eyes widened. "A tuner monster on the first turn!?" He asks in shock.

"That's right! Now I tune level 3 Terrortop, with level 3 Tri Eyed Dice!" Tri Eyed Dice became 3 green rings and Terrortop went through them, turning into 3 stars. "Cursed blade in the form of a cross! Use your power to rend all of our enemies!" Yugo chants, a beam of light shooting through the rings and stars. "I Synchro Summon! Hi-Speedroid Kendama!" An open spherical object with a piercing point appeared by Yugo's side. **(2200/1600 lvl: 6)**

" A Synchro Summon on the first turn!?" Ash asks in shock.

"Now I activate Kendama's effect! By banishing a Speedroid monster from my graveyard, you take 500 points of damage!" As Terrortop was banished, Kendama shot a blue light, which curved and went at Ash, then exploded at his side, the shockwave causing Ash to wobble before straightening out. **(Ash LP: 4000-500=3500)** "I place two cards face down, and end my turn!" The card appears appears and disappears. **(Yugo hand x1)**

"Gotta say, that was a good first move Yugo!" Ash compliments with a grin. "Let's see if I can top it! My turn!" Shakily, Ash releases one of the handlebars and places his hand on his deck. Taking a deep breath, he draws his card. "I draw!" He looks at the cards he has in his hand. 2 Spells, 2 Traps, and 2 Monsters. He activates one of the Spells. "I activate the Spell, Ultra Ball!" The black, yellow, and white sphere appeared. "Once per turn, I can summon a Pokemon monster from my deck or hand, so long as it's level 7 through 9!" A card popped out and he grabbed it. "I Summon Talonflame, the Scorching Bird Pokemon from my deck!" The ball opened up, which let loose a ball of fire into the air. The ball soon dispersed, revealing Talonflame flying right beside Ash. **(2400/1200 lvl: 7)** "And from my hand, I summon the level 1 tuner monster, Scraggy, the Baggy Pants Pokemon!" In a bright light, a bipedal, lizard-like Pokémon. Its oval eyes are set to the sides of its head, and its teeth appear to be constantly exposed. There is a small red scale on its yellow head. Below the yellow portion of its head, its body is cream-colored with thin arms and a red, scaly belly. It carries its loose, yellow skin around its legs, resembling trousers. Some of the loose skin seems to trail off to form or cover a tail. **(100/200 lvl: 1)**

Yugo's eyes widened. "A tuner monster!?" He asks in shock.

"That's right! Now I tune level 7 Talonflame to level 1 Scraggy!" Scraggy turns into a green ring which Talonflame flew through, turning into seven stars. "Clustering stars will become a new shining star! Become the path its light shines upon!" Ash chants, a beam of light shooting through the ring and stars. "I Synchro Summon! Let's rev it up! Stardust Dragon!" The dragon of stardust appears from the light with a roar. **(2500/2000 lvl: 8)**

" **Ah it is good to finally fly freely into the air once again."** Stardust says in satisfaction.

"Now I attack your Kendama with Stardust Dragon! Go, Sonic Flare!" Stardust rears his head back, before releasing a silver beam from his mouth. It impacted against Kendama, destroying it, the shock wave hitting Yugo. **(2500-2200=300)** **(Yugo LP: 4000-300=3700)** "I set 2 cards face down, and end my turn!" The 2 cards appeared and disappeared. **(Ash hand x2)**

"I gotta admit Ash, you really surprised me with how you've adapted to Turbo Duels so quickly! I think it's time I kick it up a notch! My turn now! I draw!" Yugo draws then looks at his cards, the gears in his head turning. "I Summon Speedroid Double Yoyo!" What came out was 2 green wheels with blades on it, connected to an outlet like center piece connecting it. **(1400/1400 lvl: 4)** "Now it's special ability lets me bring back Tri Eyed Dice!" The pyramid tuner came back out. **(300/1500 lvl: 3)** Yugo then hears a dragon's roar in his head. "Don't worry, I'll summon you now." He mutters. He then throws an arm up. "I now tune level 4 Double Yoyo, with level 3 Tri Eyed Dice!" Once again, Tri Eyed Dice became 3 rings, while Double Yoyo became 4 stars, a beam of light shooting through. "Spread those wondrous and beautiful wings, and strike down our enemies at lightspeed! I Synchro Summon! Level 7! Clear Wing Sychro Dragon!" Out of the light with a roar, came a legless dragon with clear green wings shaped like glass panels, white scales and blue crystals covering it's body, and a white and black forked tail. **(2500/2000 lvl: 7)**

As Ash was looking at the dragon in awe, his eyes once again changed colors. Just like with Odd Eyes Pendulum Dragon, Clear Wing Synhro Dragon was surrounded by a dark and light aura, before the light part of it condensed into a ball, before shooting into Ash's deck, glowing brighter as it did so. The increased brightness managed to snap Ash back into reality. As he regained his senses, he saw Yusei at his side, a concerned look on his face. " **Ash are you ok?"** He asks.

" **You have been staring at that dragon for quite some time now."** Stardust adds, sounding worried himself.

" _I'm ok guys, thought I just saw something."_ Ash assures. The 2 spirits didn't exactly believed him, but nodded nonetheless.

"Hey Ash? You ok!?" Yugo calls out to him.

"I'm fine, just looking at your awesome dragon!" Ash calls back.

Yugo grins. "Well you're about to see how awesome it is right now! But first, I activate my Trap Follow Wing, and equip it to my Clear Wing!" The Trap flips up and Clear Wing's wings glowed briefly. "Now I attack your Stardust Dragon with Clear Wing Synchro Dragon! Now the effect of Follow Wing activates! When the monster equipped with it attacks a level 5 or higher monster, it's effects are negated and the monster is destroyed, along with that Clear Wing gains ATK points equal to the destroyed monsters own!"

As a white beam came from the dragon's wings, Ash reacted quickly. "I activate Stardust's special ability! By tributing him, I can negate your Trap's activation and destroy it!" As Stardust disappears into sparkles, the beam curved and headed straight for the Trap.

"I activate Clear Wing Synchro Dragon's own ability! Whenever a monster activates their effect, Clear Wing can negate it, and destroy that monster!" Yugo counters. Clear Wing goes in front of the beam, and shoots it's own from it's wings, cancelling each other out.

' _Not good, that means Stardust won't come back at the end of the turn.'_ Ash thinks to himself.

"Now you're wide open! Clear Wing Synchro Dragon, attack Ash directly! Hell Dive Whirlwind Slasher!" As the Synchro Dragon came spiraling down at Ash, he swipes his arms sideways.

"I activate the Trap, Scrap Iron Scarecrow!" The card flips up, and out came a scarecrow made of scrap, which took the full force of the attack. Unknowingly to the 2 duelists, it weakened a platform holding pipes. "This card can stop an attack once per turn! And when that's done, it sets itself back face down!" The card did just that.

Yugo looked surprised. "A Trap that flips itself back face down?" He mutters. He quickly shook off his surprise. "Doesn't matter, because now from my hand, I activate the Spell, Persistent Gales! Since you negated my WIND attributed monsters attack, by banishing one from my graveyard, It can attack again with 500 additional ATK points!" He declares, banishing Tri Eyed Dice, causing his dragon to glow. **(2500+500=3000)**

Ash's eyes widened. "What!?" He asks in shock, as Clear Wing Synchro Dragon came at him again, this time successfully hitting Ash this time, causing him to slow down some more. **(Ash LP: 3500-3000=500)** The shockwaves once again weakened the pipes platform.

"I end my turn!" Yugo declares. As he passes the curve with the pipes platform, said platform finally gave out, causing the pipes to fall onto the track and right at Ash, shocking both duelists. "Ash!" Yugo calls in worry, seeing the pipes were kicking up dust, which covered Ash.

Within the dust cloud, Ash was swerving left and right barely dodging the pipes. ' _I can barely see a thing, and these pipes just keep coming… I don't know if I can make it through this.'_ Ash thinks fearfully, closing his eyes.

 _Flashback_

" _ **The most important thing you need to do, is not let fear or doubt cloud your mind."**_ _Yusei lectures as he teaches Ash about the Duel Runner._ " _ **If you do that, then you will never be able to feel the true power of the wind, or know what true freedom is. When you become one with the wind, all fear and doubt just vanishes in an instant."**_

 _Flashback end_

' _He's right, I can't let fear or doubt hold me.'_ Ash thoughts, his expression neutral. A pipe was nearing him, but it was as if it was going in slow motion. ' _I will become one with the wind… I will be free!'_ With that determined thought, his eyes snap open and continues to swerve around the pipes, but much more fluidly and determined than before.

Outside the cloud, Yugo looks at the cloud in worry. ' _Oh man, I hope he's ok, there were a lot of pipes coming right at him.'_ He thinks to himself. Just then, he heard an engine coming from the cloud, causing him to look hopeful. "Did he make it?" He mutters. His answer was soon answered as he saw a multi colored form sped out of the cloud. His eyes widened upon seeing a surprising sight. Ash was there, 100% ok… but he was driving backwards. "No way!" Yugo exclaims in disbelief.

"My turn now! I DRAW!" Ash exclaims, his signature multi colored trail following his drawn card. Flipping it over, he saw it was a monster card. He smiles, knowing how to win. "It's showtime Yugo! Hope you're ready, because I'm coming at you with everything I've got!" He exclaims, turning around so now he's going forward again.

This declaration snapped Yugo out of his shock, and got him to grin. "Come on then! Show me what you got!" He challenges.

"First, I activate my other Trap, Stardust Flash! This allows me to bring back Stardust Dragon!" The card flips up, before glowing brightly and Stardust came back out. **(2500/2000 lvl: 8)** "Next I Summon the Pendulum tuner monster Pikachu, the Electric Mouse Pokemon!" Pikachu came out onto the field with a squeak. **(1200/900 lvl: 4 scale: 1)**

"A Pendu what now!?" Yugo asks in shock and confusion.

"Now since I control a Pokemon monster on my field, I can also summon out, Bulbasaur, the Seed Bulb Pokemon!" In a flash of light, came a small, quadruped Pokémon that has blue-green skin with darker green patches. It has red eyes with white pupils and scleras and pointed, ear-like structures on top of its head. Its snout is short and blunt, and it has a wide mouth. A pair of small, pointed teeth are visible in the upper jaw when its mouth is open. Each of its thick legs ends with three sharp claws. On its back is a green plant bulb. **(1000/1000 lvl: 3 scale: 9)** "Now I tune level 3 Bulbasaur, with level 4 Pikachu!" Pikachu gave a cry and started sparking, before turning into 4 green rings, which Bulbasaur went through and became 3 stars. "Shining Wings, deliver divine speed and illuminate Heaven and Earth!" A beam of light shot through. "I Synchro Summon! Level 7! Clear Wing Fast Dragon!" Out of the light with a roar, came a dragon that was very similar to Clear Wing Synchro Dragon, but with a few differences. Instead of green wings, they were light blue, and instead of light blue crystals, they were green. **(2500/2000 lvl: 7 scale: 4)**

Yugo looks at the new monster in shock. "Clear Wing Fast Dragon?" He mutters. Then both dragons started roaring at each other. "What's up with these 2!?"

"I've seen this before! I think they want to fight each other!" Ash exclaims. Fast stops roaring and looks at Ash, before nodding.

"Really?" Yugo asks, looking at his still roaring Clear Wing. He then looks to Ash with a grin. "Let's not keep them waiting then.

Ash grins back. "You got it, but first I activate the Spell, Bonds of Unity! By choosing one of my monsters that was summoned from my Extra Deck, that monster gains ATK points to every other Extra Deck monster on my field, along with an additional attack! I choose Clear Wing Fast Dragon!" Both dragons glowed, but Fast was a little brighter. **(2500+2500=5000)** "Along with her only being able to give damage via direct attack, you can't activate any Spells, Traps, or monster effects when she attacks!"

Yugo's eyes widens. "Then that means-!"

"You can't activate your dragon's effect or Follow Wing! Now, Clear Wing Fast Dragon! Stardust Dragon! Finish this duel with Cosmic Strike Whirlwind Slasher!" Both dragons roared, before they flew upwards. They stopped at a certain point, before Fast shoots back downwards, spinning a light blue whirlwind, while Stardust charges and fires his breath attack. The attack quickly met up with Fast, which merges with her own attack, making the whirlwind silvery blue. The attack tore through Clear Wing Synchro Dragon, which exploded upon doing so, before slamming straight at Yugo.

"Ahhhhhh!" Yugo screams as he was hit by a multitude of shockwaves, his Duel Runner let loose some steam and the brakes were activated, slowing him down, and allowing Ash to shoot past him. **(Yugo LP: 3700-5000=0000 LOSE)**

 **(Ash: WIN)**

"Woooohooooo!" Ash cheers as he does his victory lap across the track, his dragons roaring in triumph.

Yugo looks at the happy 15 year old from where his Duel Runner stopped, helmet off and grinning. "That guy is full of a lot of surprises." He mutters. Eventually, Ash did his lap, and came to a stop in front of Yugo, his dragons having disappeared halfway through. "I have to say, you handled Turbo Dueling smoothly. I would've thought you were a pro if I didn't know that this was your first time." He compliments.

"Thanks Yugo." Ash thanked. Pikachu's head popped out. "Hey buddy, sorry you weren't able to see the duel."

"Pika, Pikapi." Pikachu waves off the apology.

"Although, I am curious now. Where did you get that other dragon? I thought I had the only Clear Wing monster." Yugo asks.

"Oh… that… well… you see…" Ash hesitates, not sure what to tell him. (Un)luckily, he was saved by the sounds of sirens approaching the area.

"Oh no, it's Security!" Yugo exclaims, putting on his helmet, and alarming both Ash and Pikachu.

"I thought you said they wouldn't check here!?" Ash asks frantically.

"I may have forgotten that they possibly have equipment to track all duels." Yugo chuckles sheepishly.

"WHAT!?/PIKA!?" Ash and Pikachu shouts in unison.

"Look! Belittle me later, because right now we got to go before they catch us!" Yugo exclaims, shooting away from the course with Ash following him, Pikachu back in his backpack.

As the chase was on, Ash's spirit partners came out. " **Wow, this is one big mess we're in."** Jaden says.

" _Ya think!?"_ Ash snaps back at him.

" **Calm down Ash, you just need to outrun them."** Yuma says as if it was very obvious.

" **Guys like these don't give up so easily, and I'm speaking from experience."** Yusei states.

" **They'll most likely try to force you to duel."** Stardust says.

" **We can't have that happening, along with you getting thrown in jail Boss, we need to get back to Standard."** Neos Knight adds.

" **But how? We don't know how to get back, and I don't think Yugo knows either."** Utopia retorts, as the sirens kept getting closer.

Just then, Ash heard a roar in his head, and the top card of his deck glowing. ' _What the?'_ Ash thinks to himself, before pulling out the card, surprised as to which one it was. ' _Odd Eyes Phantom Dragon? Why are you glowing?'_ As if responding to his thoughts, he heard a louder roar before the card glowed brighter, blinding him temporarily, before he blacked out.

With Yugo, he saw the light behind him, and looked back, seeing it was coming from Ash and was engulfing him and his Duel Runner. Yugo looked away as the light became brighter, before it died down. He looked back, and was shocked at seeing Ash not there anymore. ' _Where did he go?'_ He thinks to himself. He then heard the sirens again, causing him to push his worry for Ash to the back of his head, focusing on losing Security.

 **(Standard Dimension)**

"Have you found him yet Zuzu?" Yuya questions his childhood friend as they stood in front of an alley.

"No. Where can Ash be? He was right behind us." The pinkette says in worry for their otherworldly friend.

"I don't know, but I hope he's ok." Yuya says with his own concern. They have been searching the city for Ash for hours when he didn't meet up with them like he said he would. Naturally, this caused the 2 of them to worry and they went on their own to try to find him.

Back in the present, a bright light appeared in the street, surprising the 2 of them as they covered their eyes. "What is that?" Zuzu asks Yuya, who simply shrugged. Then they heard something akin to an engine from the light. They squinted their eyes in order to see a 2 wheeled vehicle heading right toward them!

Yuya, reacting quickly, tackled Zuzu out of the way, causing them to fall to the floor, and the vehicle to go down the alleyway. They heard 2 crashes, one sounded louder than the other. They look at the alley, before back at each other, blushing upon realizing the position they were in, before shooting up to their feet and looking away from each other. They weresilent for a moment before Yuya spoke up. "We should probably check what that was." He suggests, getting a silent nod in return. They both walked into the alley, unable to see the end of it because it was so dark.

Before they can walk further in, they heard a groan to their right. They looked and was shocked at seeing Ash, without his helmet, laying in a pile of garbage. "Ash!" They called in worry, going to his side, seeing if he was ok.

"Ash! Are you ok!?" Yuya calls frantically, trying to shake him awake, but he wouldn't stir.

Zuzu places a hand on his shoulder, getting him to look at her, seeing the concern in her eyes as well. "I think he's exhausted. Maybe we should bring him to your house." She suggests, getting a nod from Yuya as they wrapped his arms around their shoulders, and carry him out of the alley, not noticing the vehicle at the end of the alley. A camera zoomed in on the unsuspecting trio.

 **(LID HQ)**

Declan was looking at the recording from what just happened on a tablet. From the bright light, to the vehicle appearing, and finally Yuya and Zuzu carrying their unconscious friend out of the alley. When they walked out of the camera's vision, he put the tablet down and clasped his hands near his face, one thought going on in his mind.

' _Ash Ketchum… I have a feeling that you're about to get very involved in the up coming fight.'_

 **AN: DONE! And HOLY crap, I made an even longer chapter! Anyway, I apologize for not updating in a month, I was busy with figuring out how the duel goes, along with school just being a drain for me! As you all can see, it was Yugo and Clear Wing Fast Dragon who won the vote and got the debut, but don't worry, I know a perfect way, to debut Dark Anthelion Dragon, what it is, you'll have to wait! Next chapter will have Ash meeting another one of the future Lancers, once again, not spoiling anything! That's pretty much it so if you want to show support then follow, fav, review or all 3! That's all for chapter 7, so until chapter 8, this is FFCM15, signing out!**


	8. Chapter 8

**Pokemon ARC-V: Bonds of Unity**

 **AN: Hello everybody, FFCM15 here to bring you another update of Bonds of Unity! In this chapter, we'll see Ash not only meet one of the future Lancers, but also Duel another one! Who shall they be, and who will win duel? The answers you seek are coming to you now in Pokemon ARC-V: Bonds of Unity chapter 8!**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own either Pokemon or YGO ARC-V!**

Chapter 8

Human speech- "Hey"

Human thought- ' _Hey'_

Spirit speech- " **Hey"**

Spirit thought- ' _ **Hey'**_

 _Flashback_

" _Telepathy"_

 **Monster/Player status**

In the home of Yuya Sakaki, in one of the rooms, was the unconscious form of Ash Ketchum, his equally unconscious partner, Pikachu, curled up next to his head. After a moment, Ash stirs, opening his eyes, before blinking them repeatedly to get his vision cleared up. He looked surprised at seeing a ceiling. Hearing soft breathing next to his head, he turned to see Pikachu sleeping next to his head. Sitting up, Ash looks around, seeing that he was back in his room that Yuya and Yoko lent him. ' _What… happened?'_ He thinks to himself. Hearing the door open, Ash looks at the door, seeing Yuya standing there looking shocked. "Morning Yuya." The trainer greets, snapping his friend out of his stupor.

"Ash, you're ok!" Yuya exclaims in relief, immediately standing in front of him.

"Of course I'm ok. Why wouldn't I be?" Ash asks, looking confused.

Yuya stares at him in shock. "You mean you don't remember!?" After receiving a blank stare, he continued. "When we didn't see you follow us after awhile, Zuzu and I went looking for you. When we met back up, this ball of light appeared and some sort of vehicle came out of it, almost running us over. We were about to check what it was, but we saw you in a pile of garbage, looking beat up and exhausted, Pikachu looking the same after we saw him in your backpack, so we brought you 2 back to my house."

Ash looked shocked at what he was told. ' _So that duel wasn't a dream?'_ He thinks to himself. Seeing his deck on the desk in the room, he stood up from his bed, ignoring the stirring Pikachu and protesting Yuya. Grabbing his deck, he started going through the cards, before stopping at one, the one that confirmed what happened wasn't a dream. Clear Wing Fast Dragon. ' _So I really went to the Synchro Dimension, and had a Turbo Duel against Yugo, a guy who looks like Yuya.'_

Said Dueltainer started walking up to his friend. "What're you looking for Ash?" He asks, trying to peek over his shoulder.

Ash quickly put his deck face down on the desk. "It's nothing Yuya, I was just making sure that all my cards were there." Ash lies, not wanting to explain how he got his new monster. "Anyways, what time is it? I'm starving."

Yuya chuckles, seeing that his friend was ok and still himself. "You woke up just in time for breakfast! Come on, let's get ready before it gets cold!"

"Ok, I'll be out in a sec." Ash says, the response being a nod and Yuya leaving the room. The Pokemon trainer then turned to his long time friend and partner. "You ok Pikachu?"

"Pika ka, Pikapi." Pikachu assures with a waving paw and bright smile.

Ash's spirit partners appeared a moment later. " **Good to see you're ok Ash."** Jaden says.

" **Yeah, you tumbled off your Duel Runner pretty badly Boss."** Neos Knight adds.

"Sorry about worrying you guys, I only remembered Odd Eyes Phantom Dragon glowing before I woke up back here." Ash states, remembering the last thing he saw.

" **Somehow, Odd Eyes managed to teleport you back to Standard, but the transition back to here was fast and barely enough power, that must've been what caused you to black out."** Yusei theorizes.

" **Let's just be thankful that he did that, otherwise we would be rotting in a jail cell now."** Yuma says, relieved that they aren't stuck in a prison.

" **Though I'm more curious about the new addition to your deck Milord."** Stardust voices out, intrigued about where the new dragoness came from.

"Chu, Pikapi?" Pikachu asks, seemingly agreeing with the white dragon.

"You guys remember how I told you how I got Odd Eyes Phantom Dragon?" Ash questions, mainly to the spirit duelists. They nodded as he continues. "It was basically the same thing when Yugo Synchro Summoned Clear Wing Synchro Dragon." He holds his deck in his hand, pulling out his new card. When he looked at the card, his eyes widened in surprise. "No way." He breathes out in shock, getting everyone's attention.

" **What is it Master Ash?"** Utopia asks. Instead of answering, Ash shows them Clear Wing's card. What they saw surprised them.

"Pika!?"

" **My word."**

" **Woah!"**

" **That's unexpected."**

" **Sick!"**

" **Clear Wing Fast Dragon is a…"**

" **Pendulum Synchro Monster!?"** That was true. The border of the new dragon card was not only white, but also had the green half and red and blue gems of the brand new summoning method.

"Yeah. But what I would like to know is if Clear Wing and Phantom has a connection to each other. If so, then what is it?" Ash questions. All of them were silent for a moment, pondering the question. Ash then sighs, heading for the door. "Well, no use trying to figure it out now. I'm starving and it's breakfast time. We'll get back to it later." Pikachu jumped onto his shoulder as the spirits went back into his soul. After cleaning his face up a bit in the bathroom with Yuya joining him a minute later as he was doing it, the 2 humans and 1 Pokemon exited the bathroom.

A barking En came running up to them as they did so, sitting down in front of them. "Good morning En." Yuya says to the small Corgi as Core came up next, giving a meow. "Morning Core." Their gazes then went up, seeing a pair of dogs next. "Watt, Kilo." And finally they rested on a new pair of cats, surprising the three of them.

"Um, I know I'm not familiar with all the animals in the house, but I'm pretty sure these 2 were never here before." Ash states, Pikachu nodding in agreement.

"Yeah, you're right. Mom just can't say no to strays." Yuya says, rubbing the back of his head. With that they walked downstairs.

As they opened the door, a voice greeted them. "Yuya, Ash, Pikachu, good morning." They looked, and saw Sora sitting at the table, and Yoko was at the sink.

They walked up, Yuya looking a little dismayed. "Speaking of strays, you're certainly here bright and early." He says.

"Well, you know what they say, breakfast is the most important meal of the day." Sora says happily, then looks at Yuya. "And it's especially important for you today Yuya. You have your first big duel this morning, and I have my first duels today just like you. Your guy, Nico Smiley, came through and hooked me up big time."

"You mean you're dueling today to get into the Junior Arc League Championship too?" Yuya asks, not looking too thrilled.

Ash, on the other hand, smiled. "Awesome Sora, I hope you do great in your matches." He says encouragingly.

"Pikachu." Pikachu squeaks with a smile of his own.

"Yeah, and thanks Ash, Pikachu. Since I only have to win six matches in a row, it'll be a breeze!" Sora states, looking even more giddy at the thought.

"Yeah… a breeze." Yuya said, not looking as enthusiastic. He then looks over at Yoko. "Hey Mom? When's breakfast?" This question makes Sora, Ash, and Pikachu to look at the blond woman as well, all 3 of them being hungry as well.

"Not for awhile." Yoko says sadly, making them look shocked. "I'm making Sunrise Pork Loaf Surprise. And the recipe is a little complicated." She then looks over at Ash. "It's good to see you're alright Ash, after Yuya told me how he and Zuzu found you in an alley, I was worried. Anyway, I took out vegetables and fruits for your Pokemon and put them on the counter, and a bottle of ketchup for Pikachu of course." Looking over at the counter, Ash saw said food on the counter like Yoko said, with Pikachu quickly grabbing the ketchup while Ash let his Pokemon out, who went over to their food.

Yuya stands walks up to his mom's side. "Uh, to tell you the truth mom, I really rather you'd just make something like pancakes." He tells the older woman.

"Well, everybody is raving about Reed Pepper, and I want to try 1 of his recipes." Yoko says adamantly.

"Mom, it's a real important day, so please hurry up." Yuya complains.

"I'm cooking as fast as I can." Yoko tells her son.

"I can't be late for my first duel." A clatter was heard.

"Ugh, now look what you made me do."

Throughout the whole thing, the other occupants were listening. Sora, who was drinking a bottle of milk, Ash, who took the seat next to Sora, and the Pokemon were a little annoyed with the argument. Ash groans and lays his head on the table, feeling hungry considering he hasn't eaten since yesterday's lunch. Hearing soft thuds just above his head, the trainer looks up, seeing 2 apples and a banana on the table. Looking to his left, he saw Hawlucha and Greninja standing next to him, seeing that they had less food in their arms. Noticing their trainer's gaze on them, the Wrestling Bird and Frog Ninja nodded at him, indicating that it was alright for him to eat the food. Ash smiles appreciatively at his 2 Pokemon. "Thanks Greninja, Hawlucha." He thanks them quietly, taking one of the apples.

"Grenin." "Lu lucha." The 2 Pokemon says, waving off the thanks, going back to eating, with their trainer enjoying the offered food.

 **(2 hours later)**

Later on, after breakfast, Ash returned his Pokemon to their pokeballs and put Pikachu in his backpack, then left the house to try to find his next opponent. So far he hasn't found one yet as he was now walking in a park. "Oh man, I've been looking for someone to duel for over an hour, but so far, I haven't seen a single duelist today." He sighs in exasperation.

Pikachu popped out from his backpack. "Pikachu, Pikapi." He assure his trainer that he will find an opponent soon.

His spirit partners/mentors appeared around him. " **Don't worry about it Ash, you have plenty of time to find 2 people to duel against and win."** Yuma says, not looking worried about the deadline.

" **He's right, just give it time, I'm pretty sure you'll find an opponent soon."** Jaden agrees.

" **I think we should focus on that masked duelist we saw yesterday."** Yusei declares.

"Maybe Yus, but where would we even start?" Ash points out.

" **Boss is right. He completely disappeared without a trace yesterday, so we have next to nothing to go on to find him, all we do know is that he has purple and black hair styled like porcupine."** Neos Knight explains.

" **We also know that he gives off a power of darkness, similar to Yuya and Yugo."** Utopia adds in. " **He also had Xyz energy radiating off of him, so it's possible if we go to areas where large amounts of Xyz energy was produced, we can find him."**

" **Then I guess all we can really do for now is find opponents for Lord Ash while waiting for a spike of Xyz energy to appear."** Stardust advises.

"Yeah, but we're not having much luck at the moment finding said opponents." Ash sighs, looking around, barely seeing anyone at the park. His eyes then landed on a small figure standing in front of a gazebo at the park's center all by itself. Feeling curious, he decided to investigate further. When he was close enough, Ash was surprised when he saw it was a short boy with pale skin, purplish light grey hair, and blue eyes, with a vacant expression on his face. He's dressed simply in a yellow and blue striped shirt, grey cargo pants that appeared to have been rolled up, blue shoes over pale pink socks, and a turquoise hooded sweatshirt, with a black club on his left upper side. For some reason, his hood was up, despite also wearing a cap. From what he could see, the boy also wears a wide metal collar around his neck. Ash also notices the bear the little boy was clutching with one of his hands. "What's a little kid doing here by himself?" He mutters, looking around to see if there was anyone else keeping an eye on the boy.

" **I don't know Ash, but be careful, you don't know if it's a trap."** Yusei warns with narrowed eyes.

"Yusei, come on. He's just a little boy, and from the looks of it, he's lost and alone." Ash argues.

" **He's got a point Yus. What harm can a little kid do?"** Jaden adds in.

Yusei sighs. " **Sorry, it's just… something's off about him."**

" **You're probably just paranoid."** Yuma waves off.

" **Maybe."** Yusei sighs once more, before the spirits went back into Ash's soul, and Pikachu back in his backpack as he got closer to the kid.

"Hey, are you alright?" Ash asks, getting the boy's attention. But instead of answering, the boy just stared at the Pokemon Trainer. "Are you here all alone?" The boy just kept staring at him, making him worried. "It's ok, I don't bite. My name's Ash Ketchum." He tries to assure the boy by introducing himself. Once again, only silence was what he got from the silent boy. Ash sighs, looking around to see if anything can help him to get the boy to say something. That's when he saw something out of the corner of his eye. He looked at what it was, before smiling, having an idea on how to get the boy to open up. He quickly leads the little kid to a bench. "Stay here little guy, I'll be right back."

As he was leaving, the little boy was staring at Ash's retreating form, his eyes now having a glint of curiosity in them, clearly intrigued by the older boy's behavior.

Just as quick as he left, Ash soon came back, but was now carrying 2 ice cream cones, both containing vanilla ice cream. "Here ya go, hope you don't mind vanilla." He says, offering one of the cones to the kid, who accepted it reluctantly. Ash set himself on the space next to the kid, before taking a few small bites of his ice cream. He looked at the little boy by his side, noticing he hadn't even taken a lick of it. Nudging him gently to get his attention, Ash smiled comfortingly at the boy. "You never had ice cream before, have you?" A shake of the head was his response. "It's easy, watch." With that, Ash took a few more nibbles of his ice cream. After he did so, he looked back down at the boy with a grin. The boy looked at the teenager, then at his own ice cream cone, before taking a small bite of it. His eyes widened upon tasting the cold delicious taste of the frozen treat, before taking faster and slightly bigger bites out of it. "Woah, woah, slow down there little buddy." Ash advises, gently touching the boy's shoulder. "Don't want to get a brain freeze now." This causes the boy to look back at him.

"Brain… freeze?" The boy, for the first time, spoke, albeit softly.

This gets Ash's smile to grow a little more, seeing he was making progress. "Yeah. It's a bad headache you get when you eat something frozen too fast. Trust me, it's not a fun experience." Ash shudders, remembering some of the times he had gotten brain freezes (Some of them being quite literally). "Anyways, it's ok to eat something cold at a fast pace on a hot day, but you have to make sure you aren't going too fast to hurt yourself, ok?" The boy nodded, and started back up on his treat, but at a slower pace. "So… what's your name, if you don't mind me asking?"

The little boy paused for a moment, before replying. "Riley." He says.

Ash smiles at him. "Nice to meet you Riley." With that, they continued eating their treats. They finished after a few minutes. Ash then looked back down at Riley curiously. "Riley, do you have anyone that watches over you?"

"...Big… brother." Riley replies.

"You have a big brother?" Ash asks, getting a nod. "Is he here, in the park?" This time it was a negative shake. "Do you know where he could be? Or where your home is?" Both questions got another shake of the head. Ash looks at the small boy in sympathy, before he got a determine expression on his face. He stood up from his spot on the bench, getting Riley to look up at him. "Well, that settles it then, I'm gonna help you find your older brother." This declaration got Riley's eyes to widen slightly, as Ash turned to him, offering a hand. "What do ya say?" He asks with a warm smile.

Riley looks at him, then at the offered hand, before taking it hesitantly. "...Thank you." He thanks quietly, holding his teddy bear tightly to his chest.

Ash heard this, and his smile grew a little more. "No problem." With that, the 2 boys walked out of the park, now on a path to bring one home.

 **(LID HQ)**

The employees on the computers were frantically going through camera footages of all of Paradise City, trying to find an individual that had ran away recently when an experiment was scheduled for them. But something had went wrong, causing the individual to escape. Now, they would've done it more calmly, but when you have the chairwoman of the entire company breathing down your neck, you tend to panic a little.

"How hard could it be to find a small child duelist holding a stuffed doll!?" Henrietta demands.

"The same duelist is also somewhere in a city that contains thousands of people, Miss. Chairwoman." Claude points out.

"Hm, I see your point."

"Found him!" A worker shouted, quickly bringing a footage up, showing Ash and Riley, the former talking to a group a people, all of whom shook their heads.

"There you are… contact the closest team in the area! We must get him back!" Henrietta orders.

"Miss. Chairwoman, couldn't we just approach Mr. Ketchum normally? He seems like very compliant individual." Claude suggests.

"After what we seen him do, and what we tried to do? Do you really think he'll just give us the boy back? Excluding the Xyz duelist causing havoc, this mystery boy has yet shown us if he is an ally or foe. Especially since he appeared out of nowhere."

Knowing she had a point, Claude contacted the closest team in the immediate area, telling them most of the situation.

 **(With Ash and Riley)**

The 2 boys were now back in the park where they met each other, but now it looked more deserted. They spent 2 hours trying to find Riley's home or brother, but all attempts ended in failure. "Oh man." Ash slumps on a bench in defeat. "I'm sorry we couldn't find your brother, or your home Riley." The boy sitting next to him said nothing, just tightly hugged his teddy bear. Ash glances apologetically at the silent boy, before deciding to check up on Pikachu. Setting his backpack to the side, he unzips it, allowing Pikachu's head to pop out. "How ya holding up pal?" He whispers, not wanting to draw Riley's attention to Pikachu.

"Pika, chu pi, Pikapi." Pikachu squeaks out, assuring his trainer that he's fine.

"That's good-" "Small." Ash got cut off by Riley's soft speaking voice, getting the other worldly duo to flinch and look at the small boy with wide eyes, seeing he had leaned forward to look at Pikachu.

Ash quickly looks around, making sure no one was looking. Once he saw no one around, he places Pikachu on his lap, before looking at Riley. "Can ya keep a secret?" He asks the child, who gave a slow nod in response. Ash smiles and gestures to Pikachu. "Riley, meet my very first Pokemon partner, Pikachu."

"Pikachu." Pikachu greets with a smile and a wave.

Riley hesitantly waves back at the yellow mouse. "Where… did you get him?" He asks.

"It's a long story." Ash sighs, before diving into the long explanation that he gave to his friends at You Show.

After Ash finished explaining how he and his Pokemon got transported to this world, Riley looks at the duo in silence. "I hope… you two can go back home soon." He softly says.

Ash and Pikachu smiles at the small boy in appreciation. "Thanks Riley, that means a lot." Ash thanks.

Pikachu then jumps onto Riley's lap, surprising the boy. "Pikachu, pika pi." Pikachu follows, also thanking the boy.

"Looks like Pikachu feels the same way." Ash chuckles as Riley looks at him. The trainer then gave a soft smile to the boy. "If you want, you can pet him, just be sure to be gentle."

"Really?" Riley asks in surprise, getting a nod from both of them. Hesitantly, he puts his hand on Pikachu's head, and slowly rubs it, eliciting a pleased 'chaa' from the Electric Mouse Pokemon. This encouraged Riley to do a few faster rubs, and even scratch Pikachu's ears, getting more pleased 'chaas' from the Pokemon.

"There ya go, that's it." Ash says in approval. "He also likes getting his tail petted, like this." Demonstrating, he gently pets Pikachu's bolt shaped tail, earning an even longer 'chaa' in response.

Riley soon followed his example, gently petting Pikachu's tail, pleasing the small Pokemon even more. "Soft… and cute." He mutters, actually giving a small smile. Ash saw this and inwardly grinned, feeling proud that they finally got Riley to smile.

A little while later, after Riley played with Pikachu some more, Ash stood up from the bench, getting their attention. "As much fun as this is, I think we should continue looking for your brother Riley, he must be really worried by now." He says, shouldering his backpack.

Riley frowns. "Big brother." He softly mutters, hugging Pikachu a little tighter, getting the Electric Mouse to look at him in concern.

Ash offers his hand. "Are you ready to keep looking?" He asks. Riley looks at his hand, before nodding, and grabbing it. Pikachu, knowing they were going to look around the city more, quickly jumps onto Ash's shoulder, before going back into the backpack.

As the 2 humans walked to the parks exit, they were stopped by a voice behind them, one that Ash vaguely recognized. "Stop right there Ketchum!" The voice exclaims. Turning, Ash and Riley came face to face with Sylvio and the 3 boys Ash recognized as the ones who accused Yuya for harming Sylvio.

Ash frowns. "What do you want Sylvio? Yuya isn't here, so you can't challenge him." He states, though he had a feeling that wasn't the case.

"As much as I want to, I'm here on a completely different errand. To retrieve that little brat." Sylvio answers, pointing directly at Riley, who clutched Ash's arm in fear.

"What do you want with Riley?" Ash demands, shifting his position so he was standing in front of Riley.

"I wouldn't tell you, even if I wanted to. Our orders were to capture that little twerp at all costs."

"Sorry, but I promised Riley that I would help him find his brother. And the only way you're gonna get Riley, is by going through me." As he declared this, Ash raised his Duel Disk, getting ready to keep Riley safe.

The goons behind Sylvio were about to step up, but the arrogant boy held his hand up, signaling them to stop. "Very well, I'll do it. When I win, we'll be taking the brat with us." He says.

Ash narrows his eyes. "And if I win, you leave us alone." He states.

"There's no way that's gonna happen, because now you shall feel the full power of the dashing and mighty…" Sylvio trails off, striking a pose, while his posse gestures to him like he was royalty.

"Sylvio!" The posse chorused.

Ash sweat drops at what he just saw. "Ok?" He says awkwardly. ' _Man, and I thought Team Rocket was smug.'_ He thinks to himself. He shakes his head, remembering the situation they were in. Turning and kneeling down to Riley's level, Ash takes off his backpack and hands it to him. "Stay back Riley, I don't want you to be in any danger." He whispers. After getting a nod from Riley, Ash glances at his backpack. "Pikachu, keep Riley safe if those guys try anything."

"Pikachu!" Came the muffled voice of his friend from the backpack. With that, Riley walked a safe distance away from the field, but still close enough to reach Ash easily.

Ash turn backs to Sylvio with a serious expression on his face. "You better bring your all in this duel, because I'm not holding back!" He exclaims, pointing at him.

Sylvio huffed. "Please, you aren't even worthy of being in my presence, I'll make this quick and humiliating for you." He states. They both raised their Duel Disks, both determined to reach their goals.

 **(LID HQ)**

In the control room, the screens were showing the upcoming duel. "It seems that Mr. Ketchum has met Mr. Sawtari, although not on good terms." Claude notes.

"Indeed. Hopefully the Sawatari boy will be able to beat Ketchum and retrieve the boy." Henrietta says.

"I still think we should have approached Mr. Ketchum diplomatically."

"It's too late for that now. All that matters is that the Sawatari boy does as ordered before Declan finds out-" Henrietta starts.

"Finds out what, mother?" The voice of the LID president cuts in, causing the chairwoman and aid to turn around seeing him come up the lift.

"Declan./Mr. President." They acknowledge in shock, not expecting him to be there.

Declan takes a few steps forward, his cool gaze on his mother and assistant, before he looks at the screen of the upcoming duel, his eyes narrowing upon seeing who was there. He was silent before he went back to the lift.

"Sir, where are you going?" Claude asks.

"An errand." Declan simply says as the lift lowers down, leaving everyone there curious as to what he meant.

 **(Back at the park)**

"LET'S DUEL!" Ash and Sylvio exclaims in unison.

 **(Ash LP: 4000 Hand x5)**

 **(Sylvio LP: 4000 Hand x5)**

"I'll go first!" Ash declares, looking at his hand. 3 Monsters and 2 Traps. He then presented 2 of his cards. "To start, I set the Pendulum Scale with scale 2 Pignite, the Flame Boar Pokemon, and scale 9 Bulbasaur, the Seed Bulb Pokemon!" He slaps the cards on the edges of his Disk's blade, the 2 monsters appearing in the light blue pillars, their respective numbers below them.

"So it is true, you can actually do Pendulum Summoning." Sylvio scowled, feeling jealous that Ash can perform the new summoning method.

"That's right, and I'm gonna use it to its fullest potential to protect Riley." Ash says in determination, getting said boy to look at him in curious awe. "With the current set scale, I'm allowed to summon monsters that are level 3 through 8, all at the same time! Swing far pendulum, carve the arc of victory! My monsters are ready to unite, and fight!" The portal opened up, and out came a single green light. "I Pendulum Summon! Sceptile, the Forest King Pokemon!" The light formed into the final form of Hoenn's Grass starter. **(2800/1700 lvl: 7 scale: 3)** "I set two cards face down, and end my turn." The 2 cards appeared, then disappeared. **(Ash hand x0)**

"And here I was hoping for more of a challenge, oh well." Sylvio sighed mockingly, but Ash was unfazed. "Let me show you how a real duelist duels. I draw!" He drew a card, before playing a different card. "I activate the Spell, Twin Twisters! By getting rid of a card in my hand, I can destroy 2 Spell or Trap cards." He discards a card.

"So you are going to destroy my face downs." Ash states.

"Wrong." Sylvio denies, surprising Ash. The LID student smirked. "When Pendulum monsters are in the Pendulum zone, they are treated as Spell cards. So my Twin Twisters can destroy your Pendulum monsters!" The spell shot 2 twisters at Pignite and Bulbasaur, destroying them. "Now, by targeting your monster, I summon Landrobe the Rock Vassal!" Appearing in a flash of light was a brown armored, white hooded figure with yellow eyes. **(800/1000 lvl: 4)**

Jaden and Neos Knight appeared next to Ash. " **Ash, be careful, this guy is using a Monarch deck."** His Fusion mentor warns.

" **Yeah, we've faced them before, but it was a tough battle. Be on your guard boss."** Neos Knight adds in.

Ash glances at them. " _Thanks for the warning, I'll do my best."_ He says telepathically. The 2 spirits nodded and went back into his soul.

"Now since I summoned Landrobe this way, I can switch your monster to face down DEF mode!" Sylvio states, causing Sceptile flip face down. "Now, I release Landrobe in order to Tribute Summon, Granmarg the Rock Monarch!" A huge armored warrior with giant gauntlets appeared behind him. **(2400/1000 lvl: 6)**

Ash looks at the monster in shock. "That thing is huge." He mutters.

"And powerful." Sylvio says smugly. "Its special ability is a perfect example, as when it is summoned via Tribute Summon, it can destroy one set card on the field, including monsters." Ash's eyes widened upon hearing that, realizing what's gonna happen. "I use Granmarg's ability to destroy your set monster!" Granmarg reared one of it's gauntlets back, before slamming it onto the face down Sceptile, destroying it. "Now, I activate the Spell, Pot of Greed, in order to draw 2 more cards!" Sylvio draws again, smirking at what he got. "I activate another Spell card, Tribute Carnival! Since I managed to perform a Tribute Summon this turn, this card allows me to Tribute Summon again! So now, I tribute Granmarg the Rock Monarch, in order to Tribute Summon, Granmarg the Mega Monarch!" As the first Granmarg dispersed into sparkles, said sparkles formed an even bigger more armored version of Granmarg with giant fists. **(2800/1000 lvl: 8)**

"A level 8 monster!? But that would require 2 monsters to tribute in order to summon it!" Ash exclaims in shock.

"Normally, that would be the case. But thanks to my Mega Monarchs ability, I just needed to use a Tribute Summoned monster in order to summon it." Sylvio explains smugly. "Now, it's other special ability activates, allowing me to destroy your 2 face downs." The Mega Monarch punches the ground, creating a shockwave that destroyed the 2 face downs. "Oh, and I almost forgot, since I used an EARTH attributed monster to summon Granmarg, I get to draw one card from my deck." He draws once more. "Now I attack you directly with Granmarg the Mega Monarch!" At his declaration, Granmarg reeled its fist back, before it shot forward. It hit the ground just in front of Ash, the artificial shockwaves causing him to cover his face. **(Ash LP: 4000-2800=1200)** "I think that's enough punishment for now, with these 2 face downs, I end my turn." The cards appeared briefly. **(Sylvio hand x0)**

Ash uncovers his face and glares at him. "My turn! I draw!" He draws, getting a Spell card. "I activate my own Pot of Greed, allowing me to draw 2 more cards." He draws once again, getting 2 more Spell cards. "I activate the Spell card Great Ball! Once per turn, this card lets me summon a Pokemon monster from my hand or deck, so long as it is level 4 through 6." A card popped out from his deck and he grabbed it. "I'm summoning Donphan, The Wrecking Rolling Pokemon in DEF mode!" The giant Great Ball formed, before popping open, releasing a stream of light, before it formed into the rolling Ground Type Pokemon, a blue outline surrounding it. **(1600/2000 lvl: 4)** "I set one card face down, and end my turn." The card appeared briefly before disappearing. **(Ash hand x0)**

"Is that all? What a shame, And here I was hoping for more of a challenge from you." Sylvio chuckles, before drawing his card indicating him starting his turn. He smirked, seeing what he drew. "Now I equip my Mega Monarch with the Spell, Rockslide Rush! Thanks to this card, my Rock type monster gains 600 ATK points, while your monster loses the same amount of of DEF points!" The 2 monsters glowed a light brown and dark aura respectively. **(2800+600=3400) (2000-600=1400)**

"My monster is still in DEF mode though." Ash reminds the arrogant boy.

"Oh, I'm well aware of that Ketchum." Sylvio smirks in victory making Ash nervous. "My Spell also gives Granmarg the ability to inflict damage, even when your monster is in DEF mode!" Ash's eyes widen in shock. "With this, it's over. Granmarg the Mega Monarch, flatten that elephant and end this duel!" Granmarg reeled his fist back, before it shot straight at Donphan. The attack caused a large cloud of smoke to engulf Ash's side of the field.

"Ash." Riley mutters in worry, clutching Ash's backpack, and by extension, Pikachu, tightly.

Sylvio laughs in victory. "And that is why you should never get in the way of someone who is clearly stronger than you." He boasts.

"This duel isn't over yet!" Ash's voice declares, shocking everyone. The cloud of smoke dispersed, showing Ash still standing. **(Ash LP: 200)**

"What, but how do you still have LP left!?" Sylvio demands angrily.

Ash smiles as a Spell card that had a picture of a can and crackers appeared to his side. "Before Donphan got destroyed, I activated the Spell Emergency Provisions. By getting rid of a Spell or Trap on my field, I gain 1000 LP, giving me enough to stay in the game." The Pokemon Trainer explains.

Sylvio grits his teeth. "So you managed to hang on by a thread, big whoop. But when my next turn comes around, you're through." He says, indicating he ended his turn. **(Sylvio hand x0)**

"My turn, I draw!" Ash draws, once again getting a Spell card. "I activate the Spell, Card of Sanctity! This allows us both to draw until we have six cards in our hands."

"Big mistake giving me more cards." Sylvio states as he drew his new hand first. **(Sylvio hand x6)** He then frowns, seeing nothing that will help him.

Unknowingly, their duel had attracted the attention of several people in the park, giving them a miniature crowd.

"Wow these 2 are really good."

"Yeah, though it appears the blonde kid will win."

"I wouldn't count the cap boy out yet, he managed to hang on for this long."

These were the thoughts circulating throughout the crowd. Riley was looking at the crowd nervously, fearing they might do something to him. "Hey it's ok Riley." Ash's voice sounded out. The young boy looks up at his savior, seeing him smiling. "These people just want to see the duel, see how we counter each other, see how we push each other to the edge. They do it, because it's fun." Ash looks back at his opponent. "That's what dueling is all about, not only to bring joy and excitement to not only the duelists, but also to the crowd as well. This allows us to create new bonds of friendship with each other, and helps us make the world a better place."

"Make people… happy through dueling?" Riley softly asks.

Ash nods. "That's right, and I'm gonna show that you can be a part of that too, by helping you make your own smile." He says, placing his index and middle finger on the top of his deck, and his thumb resting on the 6th top card on his deck. Closing his eyes for a moment, before snapping them open with a determined glint in them. "I… DRAW!" He exclaims, drawing his 6 cards, his signature multi colored trail with sparkles following it. He slowly flips them over, seeing 4 Monsters and 2 Spells. His eyes widened, upon seeing 2 specific monsters.

 _Flashback_

 _A day after Yuya and Ash had found Zuzu in that warehouse, Ash was having his Pokemon demonstrate their moves and maneuvers to the You Show gang and Gong in the dueling arena. While Goodra was doing his demonstrations, Yuya had pulled Ash to the side. "What's up Yuya?" The raven haired boy asks in confusion._

" _I just want to say thanks for all your help." Yuya says. After seeing his friends confused expression, he elaborated. "I mean for everything, saving Ally from getting hurt by Suoh, sticking up for me, and helping me find Zuzu yesterday. You're a good friend Ash."_

 _Ash gives a grin. "It's no problem man, I always make sure that I can do whatever I can to protect my friends." He says, waving off the thanks._

 _Yuya smiles back, before reaching into his pocket. "Still…" He trails off, before pulling out 2 cards and offers them to Ash. "I want you to have these."_

 _Curious, Ash grabs the offered cards and inspects them, before his eyes widen in shock and he looks back at his tomato haired friend. "Are you sure you want to give these to me?" He asks._

 _The dueltainer nods. "Yeah, I'm sure. It's the least I can do for all your help. You can even think of me helping you with an awesome performance when you use these cards."_

 _Glancing at the cards then his friend one more time, Ash smiles and nods, pocketing the cards. "Thanks Yuya."_

 _Flashback end_

Ash has his eyes closed, smiling as he remembered that day. ' _Yuya… thank you.'_ He thinks to himself. He then takes his dueltainer stance. "Ladies and gentlemen, it's showtime!" He announces for all to hear, exciting everyone and making Sylvio anxious, remembering how he lost after hearing those words. "As you can see, I'm quite literally stuck between a rock and a hard place!" He jokes, electing laughs from the small crowd. "But watch as me and my monsters break through our obstacles." He presents 2 of his cards again. "Now, with scale 1 Odd Eyes Persona Dragon and scale 8 Odd Eyes Mirage Dragon, I set the Pendulum Scale, I'm making a comeback starting now!" He slaps the cards on the edges of his blade, 'PENDULUM' lighting up as 2 dragons, one red and one green, in white plated armor rose into the pillars.

Sylvio's eyes widen in shock. "Odd Eyes!?"

"That's right, my good friend Yuya trusted me with these cards, and I'm gonna put that trust into good use. With the current scale, I'm allowed to summon monsters level 2 through 7 all at the same time! Swing far pendulum, carve the arc of victory! My monsters are ready to unite, and fight!" With a raised arm, the portal opened up, allowing 2 lights, one blue and one red, to come through. "I Pendulum Summon! Level 7! The silent protector of peace, Greninja, the Frog Ninja Pokemon! And level 7! The dragon with eeire dichromatic eyes, Odd Eyes Phantom Dragon!" The frog **(2500/2000 lvl: 7 scale: 5)** and dragon **(2500/2000 lvl: 7 scale: 4)** monsters formed with their signature cries.

The crowd looks at the monster duo in awe, but Sylvio was anxious, but hid it behind a mask of confidence. "As impressive as your monsters are, they are still weaker than my Granmarg." He states.

Ash simply smiles. "By themselves yes, but they're gonna take down Granmarg together." He declares, activating one of the Spells. "I activate the Spell card, Bonds of Unity! Thanks to this, I can choose one of my Pendulum monsters, and it gains the ATK points of all other Pendulum or Extra Deck monsters out on the field! I choose Odd Eyes Phantom Dragon!" Odd Eyes Phantom Dragon gave a roar of power as he and Greninja both glowed blue. **(2500+2500=5000)** As Sylvio opened his mouth to declare something, Ash cut him off. "My Spell has 2 more effects. First, my monsters are now protected from your face up monster effects, Spells, and Traps. Second, my chosen monster can attack equal to the number of Pendulum and Extra Deck monsters out on the field, including itself." This causes Sylvio's eyes to widen in fear, knowing his face downs were now useless. "The only drawback is that Phantom can only inflict direct damage, but with being able to attack twice, and you only have one monster, this duel is over! Odd Eyes Phantom Dragon! Greninja! Attack with Spiral Shuriken Strike!" After charging his attack, Odd Eyes Phantom Dragon fired it's signature blue beam, with Greninja adding multiple Water Shurikens that spun around the beam. The combination attack tore through the center of Granmarg, causing it to explode shortly afterwards, also creating a impressive display of sparkles, amazing the crowd, Riley was also watching in awe.

"Ahhhh!" Sylvio exclaims in shock and outrage as the attack exploded on the ground in front of him, the artificial shockwaves causing him to fall down. **(Sylvio LP: 4000-5000=0000 LOSE)**

 **(Ash: WIN)**

"The end!" Ash exclaims, taking a bow, his monsters following suit, before they disappeared, the sparkles following shortly afterward. The crowd gave applause and cheers, amazed at the display of teamwork between the 2 monsters. Though Ash ignored the crowd, and instead, checked up on the young boy he was protecting. "Hey Riley, so what did you think of my dueling?" He asks with a smile.

"It… was pretty." The hooded boy softly says, giving a small smile, making Ash's own smile grow.

As the crowd was now dispersing, Ash and Riley heard footsteps approaching them from behind Ash. Turning, the duo saw the unpleasant sight of Sylvio and his cronies. "What do you want now?" Ash asks with a frown, keeping Riley behind him.

"While you have won our duel, we'll still be taking the brat with us, and get the rare cards we were promised." Sylvio smirks. With a snap of his fingers, his cronies advanced forward, arms reached out toward them. As Ash was about to defend himself and Riley…

"That is enough!" A voice commands from the side. Everyone turned their heads, and became shocked seeing the president of LID in front of them.

"Declan?" Ash asks in confusion.

"Declan Akaba!?" Sylvio and his cronies exclaims in fear.

"Big brother!" Riley cries out.

"Declan is your brother!?" Ash questions the young boy in shock.

"Yes, I am." Declan states.

"Why are you here, sir!?" Sylvio asks nervously.

"I came to simply pick my brother up."

"B-But what about our reward!?"

Declan glares at Sylvio and his posse coldly, causing them to flinch. "Leave us, now." They quickly nodded and fled from the scene. The president then turned his attention to the Pokemon Trainer. "I apologize for what happened. I can assure you that I have no idea of this reward he spoke of." He apologizes.

"Don't worry about it. In the end, everything worked out for, almost, everybody." Ash dismisses the apology.

"Nonetheless, I am in your debt. Thank you for taking care of my little brother, and for your forgiveness of this whole situation."

"Like I said, everything worked out, and no one was seriously hurt. We can't change what happened, so we do the next best thing, we learn from it and make sure it doesn't happen again."

Declan gives a slight smirk. "Well, we best head off then. Come along Riley, it's time to get you home."

"Coming Big Brother." Riley says, first giving Ash his backpack back, along with giving a silent 'thank you', then walking to his brother's side.

As Declan was about to turn around, he glances at Ash once more. "Oh and before I forget, congratulations on your 5th victory, I am looking forward to seeing you at the ARC League Championship." With that, he walked away with Riley by his side.

"You'll be the first to know! And Riley, remember what dueling is all about!" Ash calls out to them as they got further away.

Once they were out of sight, Pikachu's head poked out from his backpack. "Pika pikachu, Pikapi?" He squeaks out.

"Don't worry, I'm sure Riley will be alright, Declan is his brother and he seems like a tough kid." Ash replies.

"Pikachu chu pi?"

"It's alright Pikachu, I'm sure he won't tell Declan our personal information without asking for permission." The trainer then started heading his own way out of the park. "Now, let's go see if Yuya finished his duel yet."

 **(With the Akabas)**

As they were walking to LID HQ, Riley looked up at his brother.

"Big brother?" He asks hesitantly.

"Yes Riley?." Declan says in acknowledgement.

"If there's ever a chance, can I see Ash again? He seemed nice."

Declan looks at the little boy, surprise shown in his purple eyes. It went away quickly, his eyes going a bit soft. "Possibly during the Championships." He replies.

As Riley nod, Declan then becomes absorbed in his own thoughts. ' _Ash Ketchum. You pique my curiosity more by the day.'_

 **AN: Hey everyone, I am so sorry for this being so late! Between school and my other priorities in life, I've just been drained, plus writer's block didn't help much! As you can all see, Riley was the next Lancer that Ash has met! I will admit, that this chapter was inspired by Coral the Leviathan's story, Yu Gi Oh Arc V N' Nature, if it looks like that I ripped some of it off, then I do sincerely apologize for it!**

 **On another note, not only is it the holidays, but it is also officially been one whole year since I started posting up content to this website! I just want to thank all of you for your support, you guys have been such a great crowd, and I hope I do better with posting more content this upcoming year! Anyways, in next chapter will finally be the debut of a very special monster a lot of you been waiting for, and I promise to get it done as soon as I can! That's all for now, as you know you can show support by faving, following, or reviewing this story, or all 3! Have a very Merry Christmas, or whatever holiday you celebrate! I'll see you all next time in chapter 9, till then, this is FFCM15 signing out!**


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